The Ultimate Audition Book: 222 Comedy Monologues, 2 Minutes And Under Vol. 4 (Monologue Audition Series) [Paperback]

Irene Ziegler Aston (Author), John Capecci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2005

The Hottest Collection of Comedy Monologues Available!

If you've ever searched for a good comic monologue-whether for a professional audition, a class, or a competition-you know how frustrating the hunt can be. We've combed over some of the world's best comic writing to bring you 222 Comic Monologues: Two Minutes and Under. It's all funny stuff here: classic and contemporary works; roles for men and women ages 7 to 100; entertaining voices from writers as varied as Christopher Durang and Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker and Steve Martin, Margaret Cho and Molière. You'll find shades of comedy from light to dark: situational humor, word play, absurdity, and surrealism. These monologues are alternately romantic, silly, militant, downright zany-first-rate character work by both new and established comic writers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

222 Comedy Monos: It's all funny stuff here: classic and contemporary works; roles for men and women ages 7 to 100; featuring the best comic monologues from: Aristophanes Eric Bogosian Charles Busch Anton Chekhov Margaret Cho Peter Cook & Dudley Moore Larry Doyle Christopher Durang Lawrence Ferlinghetti Ian Frazier Spalding Gray Cynthia Heimel Danny Hoch Langston Hughes Tony Kushner Steve Martin Moliere Dorothy Parker Tom Robbins Paul Rudnick Richard Russo William Shakespeare Ntozake Shange John Patrick Shanley Oscar Wilde

and many more! You'll find shades of comedy from light to dark: situational humor, word play, absurdity, and surrealism. These monologues are alternately romantic, silly, militant, downright zany-first-rate character work by both new and established comic writers.

About the Author

IRENE ZIEGLER ASTON is an actor, teacher, playwright, and novelist. Most recently, she played Maggie Runyon in The Contender (nominated for two academy awards) and can currently be seen as Mrs. Laughlin in Showtime’s series, Going to California. She has taught speech, oral interpretation, and acting at Eastern Michigan University, Old Dominion University, and the University of Richmond, where she was an Artist in Residence.

JOHN CAPECCI holds a Ph.D. in Speech Communication and has nearly twenty years experience coaching, teaching, and presenting public performances. John has taught communication techniques and performance theory and practice to high school, undergraduate, graduate, and adult learners. He is an editor, along with Irene Ziegler, of The Ultimate Audition Book II: 222 Monologues from Literature, Two Minutes and Under, The Ultimate Audition Book III: 222 Monologues, Two Minutes and Under from the Movies, The Ultimate Audition Book IV: 222 Monologues, Two Minutes and Under. He also has published essays on the performance of literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 313 pages
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus Pub Inc (May 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575254204
• ISBN-13: 978-1575254203
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resource, August 3, 2005

By 

Britney Adams "Britney Adams" (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Audition Book: 222 Comedy Monologues, 2 Minutes And Under Vol. 4 (Monologue Audition Series) (Paperback)

This collection is a lot funnier than previous editions and I love the variety. I found a lot of material to use in my auditions and they're getting me plenty of laughs. Hey, I'm actually funny now!!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monologue Heaven!, August 5, 2007

By 

Tia (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Audition Book: 222 Comedy Monologues, 2 Minutes And Under Vol. 4 (Monologue Audition Series) (Paperback)

This book is so great for any actor! I would highly recomend it because it has such an array of pieces for anyone! And anybody who has had to audition knows the trouble it is to find good monologues that meet time requirements, age specifications, and come from an actual play! This book has it all if you're in a quick hurry to learn a monologue. My only problem with this book is picking a monologue out of such a great collection! But I better decide in less than a week! :-D

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful resource for any actor, September 13, 2011

By 

A. Sullivan "asullivn" (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ultimate Audition Book: 222 Comedy Monologues, 2 Minutes And Under Vol. 4 (Monologue Audition Series) (Paperback)

I have several monologue books but this is one of my favorites. For each monologue, the book lists the name of the piece, the author, genre (contemporary or classic), age range of the character, and background information on the character and plot. Most of the auditions I attend call for a one or two minute monologue so this book really comes in handy. It contains a lot of monologues from plays I haven't come across so I know the auditioners haven't heard the same piece over and over. I like the fact that it's separated by male & female monologues, as well as comic and seriocomic monologues. I wish the table of context further grouped the monologues by age, but other than that, I have no complaints.