The Funny Ten Minutes

I found the comical ten minute plays I just read to be quite different from the dramatic ones. For the most part, I found that these characters are much less dynamic than those in the dramatic ones. Yes, they do have relationships that are established, but for the most part the scenes are between characters that do not have detailed or well known previous relationship. In "Aimee" she does not know the two inspectors and we don't really learn about the relationship of the two inspectors to much. I think this is an element of writing comedy. The audience does not need to know the back story as much for it to be funny, where in a drama, i know that in order for me to connect to a character i need to be able to connect emotionally to that character.

I liked how quickly this selection of plays went. I think it comedy, there are usually less dramatic pauses and things over all. I read each of these in five minutes or less, just because they were easy to follow and light on the mind. I thought "Philadelphia" was really silly. But a great parody on what it is like there. My family is from Philly and it is funny to see it made fun of in this way. This of course is obviously not realistic, however, still comical.

I thought "Anything for you" was the most well written character wise. I like comedy that is brought out of something a little more serious. In general, it makes it a little more "adult" i guess you could say. I liked that the author developed the characters a bit, so it wasn't just a funny sketch about two people in restaurant. Its funnier when the punchline comes in because you know how strange a situation that would be between two best friends.

Plays that make us cry usually make us laugh at one point or another, where in comedy plays just make us laugh. There is absolutely nothing wrong with straight comedy of course, but usually drama is more dynamic. I really liked "Duet" because the characters were all so simple. I loved that you could hear the animals voices, knowing that they are completely unheard by the humans. However, i was a little confused by the end of the show. The bear's monologue i felt was only there to put in place a message from the author. I felt that it didn't really fit the play that well, which kind of drew me out at the end because otherwise i really liked this one.