Decades before Saturday Night Live, Caesar and company were inventing political sketch comedy. The writers faced network pressures to dumb down the show, as well as a growing right-wing political climate fueled by Senator Joe McCarthy. Laughter on the 23rd Floor is based on Simon’s 30 Rock–esque experiences on the show.
Who knew that Keegan Theatre, a company better known for staging Irish and American melodramas, and more recently musicals, could dive into Simon at his shtickiest and come up trumps.
An extended act of hero worship masquerading as a laff riot, Neil Simon’s Laughter on the 23rd Floor is filled with one-liners, peopled entirely by folks who either write or want to write jokes…
…think how funny “30 Rock” would be if it included some of the extraordinary 1950s comics who wrote for Caesar, like Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks.
It will undoubtedly make you laugh–and also think a little, too. The production has that certain “I don’t know what” about it that one always hopes to have at the theatre.
Do you want a laugh every 30 seconds?
If you are a Neil Simon fan, a fan of Sid Caesar and Jackie Gleason, and a writer – and just want to go back to the good ol’ days – this is the show for you.
The Helen Hayes Awards has recommended Keegan’s production of LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD FLOOR, now playing through February 18.
You want funny? Keegan Theatre has funny. Laughter on the 23rd Floor. They killed it, nailed it, knocked it out of the park.
The Keegan Theatre’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” a Neil Simon play based on Simon’s experiences as a joke writer for 1950s NBC variety show “Your Show of Shows,” opens Saturday.
Learn about the productions that are currently playing and coming up next at Keegan.
Looking for Keegan productions for kids and families? See what’s next onstage from Keegan PLAY-RAH-KA!
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