Brexit and Trump now loom over culturally engaged comedy, where behind-the-curve jokes can be easily exposed.
Such is the case, at least, in the fictional world of "Rx," a sprightly, engaging comedy by Kate Fodor that opened on Tuesday night at the 59E59 Theaters in a Primary Stages production.
His return may shape something of a sermon, as does an incident that finds greed repaid with compassion and kindness, but De Filippo's text, the crisp adaptation by Linda Alper and Beatrice Basso, and especially the fine acting by the entire cast of 18 turn it into engaging comedy and drama.
Here are five reasons Christians should actively engage in comedy.
The group engaged in comedy slapstick sketches but also unleashed a string of No 1 singles including "Last Train To Clarksville"' and the Neil Diamond song "I'm A Believer" which was also a US No 1 in 1966.
Ms. Williams's lovely, subtle performance as Joyce — she's the human equivalent of a cozy chenille blanket — is among the chief enticements of this low-key, engaging new comedy by Annie Baker, a young playwright with a probing, understated voice, making her Off Broadway debut.
"I Met Him in Paris" (1937), one of the 14 collaborations of the director Wesley Ruggles and the screenwriter Claude Binyon, is an engaging formula comedy with Colbert as an American in Paris courted by a charming but caddish Robert Young and a stuffy but dependable Melvyn Douglas.
He gets another chance to work the territory of the unhappy man trying to right the foundering ship that his life has become in All Is Bright, a small but thoroughly engaging dramatic comedy that teams him with his virtual opposite in temperament, Paul Rudd.
Watching them engage in impeccable comedy improv as the thud of the warm-up acts rattles the walls, it's easy to forget that these are actors in a BBC3 sitcom.
But despite their allegories of social and environmental pathology, Dennis' sculpture never grew oppressive or bleak; in fact they at times engage a black comedy or carnival atmosphere while regurgitating the jumbled refuse of consumer goods, intransigent engineering paradigms, and aggressive commercial branding.
