Zen and the Art of the Monologue (A theatre arts book) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "A monologue is a predominantly verbal presentation given by a single person featuring a collection of ideas, often loosely assembled around one or more themes..." (more)
Key Phrases: Spalding Gray, Borrowed Breath, Eric Bogosian (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Jay Sankey -- stand-up comic, magician, and cartoonist -- is back with another book for performers. Building on the success of his Zen and the Art of Stand-up Comedy, Jay is moving further into the uncharted wilds of solo performance. Spalding Gray and Eric Bogosian have made the monologue a significant part of contemporary theater, and more and more one-person performances crop up every season. The monologue gives you incredible freedom -- as well as posing real dangers, especially, as Jay puts it, for 'the vain and inexperienced'. Stand-up comedy is funny, cathartic, and usually over in minutes. A monologue is reflective and can run an hour or more. Comedy entertains; the monologue explores.

With his trademark blend of calm, sound advice and unexpected, anarchic humor, Jay Sankey guides you through the experience of performing your monologue. His question-and-answer format allows him to cover the issues central not only to the full-length monologue, but also to explain how his techniques and ideas can help you perform a short monologue (like Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' speech) within a play or, taken out of context, as an audition piece.

What Sankey has to say about the monologue will give you the nerve to sit on a chair by yourself for an hour and talk about anything at all. And, as Jay says, if you're lucky there will be other people in the room.

About the Author

Jay Sankey performs stand-up comedy and monologues wherever audiences gather. His Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy is also published by Routledge. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Arts Book; 1 edition (November 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878300945
• ISBN-13: 978-0878300945
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,040,477 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Half good, half silly, April 12, 2008

By	Danielle Mari (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

In my opinion, the fact that Sankey is a stand-up comedian actually hurts him. He seemingly feels some pressure to be funny and, therefore, shuffles silly non-nonsensical non sequesters throughout the book: "Do Siamese Twins Really Understand Double Entendres," "Are Parrots Really Psychic," "Why Is It Dangerous to Smoke in Bed?"... After the first two such interruptions, I have to admit that I just skipped the rest and read his actual advise.

And the advise is pretty helpful. It's very much in line with other Zen books and is not totally unlike the Tao of Pooh. This isn't to imply that Sankey neglects pragmatic advise. In fact, he lays out some valuable ideas. I found especially useful what he had to say about script length, the performance space, and fringe festivals.

The author also offers some sound advise about promoting a solo show. Inexplicably, however, Sankey neglects to mention internet promotions at all. I have to wonder if he wrote this before the web really took off? (Though the copyright date is listed as November 2000!) Perhaps he's just not net saavy? Still- seems like a glaring omission that the editors, at least, should have noticed and remedied.

Also, don't buy this expecting writing exercises. He has advise on how to start, but not an intensive set of prompts to get an eager but blocked pen writing.

All in all, it's not a bad book. Unfortunately, I think it's way too expensive for its size (especially if you omit the useless silly sections).