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"Five Questions for Jonathan Rand"

Check out "Five Questions for Jonathan Rand" on the Playscripts, Inc. blog. (This link is dead. The Q&A is below.)

1.  Tell us a joke.  

You can’t tell me what to do.

  

2.  Now that you're loosened up, what was the genesis of Crazytown?

 For ten years I’d been meaning to write a fast-paced, low-tech evening of comedy where four actors played far too many roles. Once I decided the setting would be a fictional city where absurdity was the norm, the characters began materializing and Crazytown was born.

 

 3.  Who are your comedy heroes?

 It’s a long list, but to name a handful: Monty Python, Tig Notaro, Jason Mantzoukas, Tina Fey, Matt Groening, Stephen Colbert, my Grandma Lillie.

 Side story: On a family trip to Chicago in the early ’90s, we saw a sketch comedy show at The Second City where the cast included two young comics named Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. Even today, my family will recite bits from that now 20-year-old show; it was that good. And it was most likely the spark that ignited my unhealthy obsession with comedy.

 

 4.  What are you working on now?

 I’m co-writing a play with someone who will remain mysteriously anonymous for now. If you want to find out who, I’ve placed clues on the back of the Declaration of Independence.

 

 5.  Just for fun, what was your most memorable high school theater experience?

 As a playwright: writing my very first play, Hard Candy, and sitting in the audience during its first production. As an actor: performing in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) at the Florida Thespian Festival in front of a thousand people. I can still feel the tights.

Earlier Event: February 23
Jonathan interviewed by Adam Szymkowicz
Later Event: June 17
Now published: "F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S."