"Critic's Pick! Fast and furious...fresh and funny...a great piece of political satire." Cincinnati City Beat "You knew they'd get this one right. THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF COMEDY (abridged) -is a madcap, breakneck-speed two hours. Audacious, often outrageous and bawdy, the frantic pacing of COMEDY reminds you of an old-time burlesque or vaudeville revue." Boston Stages "A wild, wild ride! It's funny. Really, really funny... And most of all, it's really, really smart." Cincinnati Enquirer "THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF COMEDY (abridged) is a master class in the art form." Broadway World

This play interprets the past as a breathlessly-paced sequence of silly vaudeville sketches ... puns and crude parodies of movie and television genres."

Originally performed by its creators, this 1987 Edinburgh Fringe hit remains the second longest-running West End comedy in history and has been translated into over thirty languages. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is not so much a play as it is a vaudeville show in which three charismatic, wildly ambitious actors attempt to present all thirty-seven of Shakespeare's plays in a single performance. They have a rudimentary concept of the stories and have imperfectly memorized a smattering of famous lines. Backstage there's a meager assortment of costumes and props. Thus armed, the three brazenly launch into their task with an earnest focus and breakneck enthusiasm.

Literature's greatest books condensed into 90 minutes.

"Critic's Choice! They tell me vaudeville died some time ago, but...the knockabout, anything for-a-laugh spirit of the ancient genre is alive and well. Agile and quick witted...there's no denying their ingenuity when it comes to grabbing comedy out of thin air." Boston Globe "Gloriously irreverent style...a Christmas pageant gone horribly, hilariously awry." Dallas Morning News "These brilliant clowns take us on an irreverent but heartwarming trip through the holidays guaranteed to step on more than a few sacred cows and mistel-toes'." San Diego Magazine

From the theater troupe whose sidesplitting production The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] is the longest-running comedy in London's history comes an openly hysterical, yet surprisingly informative, guide to everything you ever wanted to know about the Bard of Avon Love Shakespeare Youll like this book. Hate Shakespeare Youll love this book. From the theatrical company that has been cutting the Bard down to size for more than a dozen years comes a single volume boasting everything you always wanted to know about William Shakespeare's life and work -- but couldnt be bothered to ask. In one slim volume, Reduced Shakespeare delivers the plays, the life, and the legend in twelve easy pieces. What's the theme of Hamlet Poop or get off the pot. What's essential preparation for an evening of outdoor Shakespeare Bring lots of coffee . . . and use the bathroom before the show. Liberally sprinkled with lists, definitions, quizzes, essential vocabulary, and the Reduced Shakespeare Company's trademark irreverence and wit, this "reduced" handbook will delight enthusiasts, skeptics, and fledgling fans alike.

Discovered in a treasure-filled parking lot in Leicester, England (next to a pile of bones that didn't look that important), an ancient manuscript proves to be the long-lost first play written by none other than seventeen-year-old William Shakespeare from Stratford. We are totally not completely making this up. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (abridged) is the literary holy grail: an actual manuscript in Shakespeare's own hand showing all his most famous characters and familiar speeches in a brand-new story. But because it's one hundred hours long and contains multiple unwieldy storylines, it was decided, as a public service, to abridge it down to a brief and palatable ninety-minute performance for this lost masterpiece. "Something wickedly funny this way comes!" The New York Times "A breathlessly irreverent, pun-filled romp!" The Washington Post "A top-notch comic deconstruction of Shakespeare!" The Stage--U K