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A Thousand Clowns
by
Herb Gardner
Comedy
Characters: 4 male, 1 female, 12 year-old boy
2 Interior scenes
This benchmark of Broadway comedy produced one of the theatre's most beloved roles: unconventional Murray, uncle to precocious nephew, Nick. Tired of writing cheap comedy gags for "Chipper the Chipmunk," a children's television star, Murray finds himself unemployed with plenty of free time
...morePaperback, 126 pages
Published
March 31st 1983
by Penguin Books
(first published January 1st 1962)
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Probably one of my favorite all-time plays because of the sardonic, whimsical, pseudo-absurdist humor pervasive throughout. There's a little Kip Bledsoe in Murray Burns.
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Have read this multiple times now. Beautiful script. Lucky to work on it alongside a fantastic cast.
Nov 24, 2015
Michael
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of the movie, amateur thespians, drama teachers
Recommended to Michael by:
TV Guide
Shelves:
drama
The 1965 movie-version of this play has been important to me ever since I caught it on late-night TV back in my late adolescence, but I only knew vaguely that it was based on a stage performance. When I stumbled across this edition of the play, which includes photos of the original Broadway cast, in the library where I work, I couldn’t resist taking it home and reading it.
First, that cast. For the most part, it’s the same as the cast of the movie, which is probably part of why they perform so w ...more
First, that cast. For the most part, it’s the same as the cast of the movie, which is probably part of why they perform so w ...more
This is not actually about clowns; the title refers to a line in the play. I found this when I was looking for a monologue for Theatre I. I have since seen the movie (from the '60s) a few times on TCM, and it is truly a hidden gem.
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This play seems like it was written by someone named, "Herb" hahaha. It is sweet and funny. I would love to see actors bring Murray and Nick and Sandra and Leo to life-- I'll bet that's a lot of fun to watch. This play is about the family you choose and not everything is explained in the text and that's great-- again, what a wonderful acting opportunity. Made me laugh, lots of good monologs.
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Really enjoyed this old chestnut.
Act III is a little too prolonged though it's nice to see that the boy's character has done arc to it. ...more
Act III is a little too prolonged though it's nice to see that the boy's character has done arc to it. ...more
This is a hilarious play. The wit is razor sharp. You have to see this performed by Jason Robards, Barry Gordon, Barbara Harris and Martin Balsam.
Yes sir, that's my baby.
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Didn't care for this one. The dialogue seemed like a pale imitation of Neil Simon, like Gardner was using castoff Simon jokes.
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A welcome comedy in the midst of some intense reading this year (actually, in the midst of an intense year full stop).
hilarious and I love it. An example of genius comedic pacing and double entendre
I know this is supposed to be a comedy, but I did not find it amusing. A 12-year old boy is about to be placed in foster care if his uncle does not stop being a "character" and constantly making jokes. All the uncle needs to do is find a stable job. He does not want to surrender and work for an idiot who does a children's show, but why doesn't he look for something else? I personally found the situation to be sad, not funny. Cannot recommend. Kristi & Abby Tabby
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“You are not a person, Mr. Burns. You are an experience!”
A Thousand Clowns is a thousand laughs. The amusingly eccentric lifestyle and dialogue of the nonconformist unemployed Murray Burns, who shouts his grievances to New York from his apartment window, makes this play truly wonderful. I was first introduced to the story I was kid through the film version starring Jason Robards, Jr. I loved it then. And now having finally read the play, I think I love it even more.
The story’s rather simple—a m ...more
A Thousand Clowns is a thousand laughs. The amusingly eccentric lifestyle and dialogue of the nonconformist unemployed Murray Burns, who shouts his grievances to New York from his apartment window, makes this play truly wonderful. I was first introduced to the story I was kid through the film version starring Jason Robards, Jr. I loved it then. And now having finally read the play, I think I love it even more.
The story’s rather simple—a m ...more
I have fond memories of seeing this play when I was in high school and wanted to read it again to see if it measured up. I'm still not entirely sure what the moral is, but I'll be chewing on it for a while.
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It doesn't get any better than this!
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Would be interested in seeing film version as many people say it's really good.
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3.5
Maybe it's just me, but this is one of the saddest "comedies" ever. I'm generally in favor of eccentric uncles, but Murray seems bitter to me.
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This is another play that was made into a movie (Jason Robard, I think was the main charachter. Brilliant.
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