Fired! Tales of Jobs Gone Bad [Audio CD]

Annabelle Gurwitch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

Rejection has never been so hilarious! After her role in a Woody Allen play was rethought, actress Annabelle Gurwitch was devastated. Then, she got funny. Gurwitch and a revolving cast of fellow show-biz veterans share their stories of getting fired

A L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Hillary Carlip, Carl Capotorto, Illeana Douglas, Paul Feig, Dana Gould, Annabelle Gurwitch, Jason Kravitz, Sandra Tsing Loh, Taylor Negron, Paul F. Tompkins, Jim Turner, Matt Walsh, Elizabeth Warner, Charlayne Woodard and Roy Zimmerman.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ms. Gurwitch is best known to television audiences for her numerous years as the co-host of the cult favorite Dinner and a Movie on TBS. She is a contributing writer to Day to Day on NPR and you can hear commentaries at npr.org. She has published humor pieces in Los Angeles Magazine, Glamour, Premiere, Child, and Cooking Light amongst other publications

From AudioFile

Gurwitch, who was fired from a Woody Allen play, put together this ensemble of 15 performers telling stories of being fired. The material and delivery are generally at the level of competent stand-up and are often amusing, though many performers are too loud and shrill. Sandra Tsing Loh, who caterwauls, and Charlayne Woodard, who is painfully over the top, make the Wicked Witch of the West seem subdued. Some stories don't fit the topic, such as Carl Capotorto's, but are still funny. Performers are listed in sequence only at the end of the audio, not on the packaging, a baffling lack of consideration to performers and listeners alike. One frequently has no idea who's speaking. W.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: L.A .Theatre Works (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580813364
• ISBN-13: 978-1580813365
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,301,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The true stories of over a dozen different actor's experiences of being fired, November 14, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fired! Tales of Jobs Gone Bad (Audio CD)

Fired is a full cast audiobook of a nonfiction play - the true stories of over a dozen different actor's experiences of being fired, some from acting jobs, some from summer jobs they worked as a teenager, and some who worked jobs so horrible that getting fired would have been a relief. Each tale, told in the voice and words of the actor who experienced it, is a vivacious, witty, often darkly ironic look at the selfishness and foolishness of the working world in general and Hollywood's working world in particular. From Annabelle's crushing disappointment in having her idol Woody Allen "ruin my Woody Allen experience" by calling her "retarded" before dismissing her from his "uninspired, as critics would later say" production, to Sandra Tsing Loh's extremely unlikely salvation due to a Janet Jackson's naked breast on TV (Ms. Loh just happened to be fired for obscenity on the radio shortly before Jackson's infamous wardrobe malfunction), to Jim Turner's mind-numbing experience with a manager who would give endless speeches that were nothing but the same platitude over and over, Fired is the perfect way to forget one's own troubles by listening to (and laughing at) the troubles of others. Highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fired up about FIRED, September 22, 2007

By 

Bennet Pomerantz "Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD" (College Park, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Fired! Tales of Jobs Gone Bad (Audio CD)

To use the tag line of this production "Rejection has never been so hilarious!" is so true. No truer words are spoken

When Annabelle Gurwitch was fired from a Woody Allen Play, she gathered friend's & coworkers, and got essays of being fired. This collection is a laugh riot. If you have not seen this show performed or the DVD, this is a private audio for you and anyone who may be listening with you.

This CD also has former NPR columnist Tsing Loh's "The F that could" with bleeps . . . I wished there was an un-bleeped version, I want to hear it. You know even with all the BLEEPS, you will laugh, string and long, at this audio essay of censorship

There are a few weak stories in this CD, but they are short (THANK GOD) and does not take away from the magical night where to be FIRED is king!

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

4.0 out of 5 stars Gets much better after the first story., November 4, 2010

By 

Douglas (DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fired! Tales of Jobs Gone Bad (Audio CD)

First, this is more an ensemble standup than "theatre." Don't judge the whole thing until you get past the first story which, though mildly amusing, is probably the least funny of the bunch. It's by the woman whose idea it was to put these stories together. Besides directing some spite toward Woody Allen, it more importantly shows she actually has problems with her timing in delivering a line. By the end of her story, I was pretty sympathetic to Woody for his "rethinking" of her role in his uninspired comedy. Overall, though, this is pretty good.