PLEASE LAUGH by Sarah Jae Leiber

Welcome to SOMEONE'S UP LATE!, this universe's answer to THE TONIGHT SHOW or THE LATE LATE SHOW! Anything can happen here — celebrity interviews! Games! Ego trips! Murder! Stand-up comedy!

On the set of a late night comedy show, a team of industry sycophants and major stars manages the emotions and whims of the violent, volatile Host in an absurd peek behind the curtain at the natural...
Welcome to SOMEONE'S UP LATE!, this universe's answer to THE TONIGHT SHOW or THE LATE LATE SHOW! Anything can happen here — celebrity interviews! Games! Ego trips! Murder! Stand-up comedy!

On the set of a late night comedy show, a team of industry sycophants and major stars manages the emotions and whims of the violent, volatile Host in an absurd peek behind the curtain at the natural consequences of failing upwards. PLEASE LAUGH is about power (and who can wield it) and what becomes of the soul of the underdog when they become the top dog. It's also about the power an audience has to shape a narrative.

A semifinalist for the 2024 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference.
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PLEASE LAUGH

Recommended by

  • Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend:
    14 Aug. 2023
    “ So funny and so uncomfortable. This parody of a late night show with a host who behaves badly and is indulged every step of the way will make you laugh and cringe. It's a great commentary on fame and the fame-adjacent, with a fantastic monologue about doing improv in college. I truly didn't know what was going to happen next from moment to moment as I feared for the women and tried to will Buddy to step up and step in. With engaging characters, a single set, and audience participation (but not in an uncomfortable way), this play is great. ”
  • Ben Kaye:
    13 Jul. 2023
    “ A play committed to pure entertainment and engagement in the most sensational and deranged fashion. Absolutely steadfast in its mission of presenting a superbly heightened, yet overly familiar world of entertainment, making the audience a complicit participant in the mania of the story. Uncomfortable and gut-punching, and maybe one of the funniest treatises on the corruption of contemporary fame out there. ”
  • Christian Flynn:
    10 Jul. 2023
    “ Hilarious! Scary! James Corden! A pop culture play that never feels #topical. Someone must stop these late-night psychos and Leiber just might be the person to do it. This play has a chaotic, unhinged, trickster energy. The funniest play I've read on this site by a wide margin. ”
View all 5 recommendations

The Host. A James Corden aspiring to Ellen-hood. White; born in London; American accent.
Buddy. The co-host. A good comedian and a coward. White and Jewish.
Eveline. Star on the rise. Just had a big movie and won a big award. Chinese American.
The Producer. Way more literal than the stage manager in Our Town. Basically a minion.
Mika Davis. A small, white, lesbian and a standup comedian. Very new at this.
A band.

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Play Date at Pete's Candy Store
    ,
    2023
  • Reading
    ,
    Dramatists Guild
    ,
    2021

Awards

Semi-Finalist
,
National Playwrights Conference
,
Eugene O'Neill Center
,
2024
Semi-Finalist
,
SheNYCArts Festival
,
2022
Finalist
,
The Loom New Works Festival
,
Woven Theatre
,
2021