Funny Business: An Introduction to Comedy with Royalty-Free Plays and Sketches [Paperback]

Marsh Cassady (Author), Theodore O. Zapel (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

Twenty-two one-act plays and sketches demonstrating comedy techniques. Comedy relies upon exaggeration incongruity, automatism, character inconsistency, surprise and derision. Now a book that defines and demonstrates each of these devices with twenty-two short sketches and one-act plays.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marsh Cassady

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Meriwether Publishing; 1st edition (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566080371
• ISBN-13: 978-1566080378
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,420,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT Funny - and only for Teens, January 29, 2002

By 

H. Medina (Rose Valley, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Funny Business: An Introduction to Comedy with Royalty-Free Plays and Sketches (Paperback)

Although the basic tenants of comedy are presented here, the sketches that are used as illustrations are: (a) not funny and (b) useful for teens or younger only. This book seems geared to for middle school teaching usage when there's not much other material around. I put together sketches each year for a community variety show and was looking for some new inspiration. Hopefully, I thought, this book could give some "Second City" types of baselines. This book definitely did NOT come even close. Additionally, the AMAZON write-up did not properly identify that the book is geared to young themes and interests, ignoring older funny-bones.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference book, August 5, 1998

By 

Ellen B. Snortland (Altadena, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Funny Business: An Introduction to Comedy with Royalty-Free Plays and Sketches (Paperback)

Marsh Cassady has really nailed all of the forms of comedy in a concise, fun and easy to read way. It's difficult to explain comedy without making it unfunny. Cassady successfully engages the reader with scenes that illustrate how irony, incongruity, absurdity, and other classic methods of tickling our funny bones, work. I originally thought that Funny Business would be a good gift for a graduating senior but soon wanted it for my own reference. I highly recommend Funny Business.