Recommended by John Busser

I loved this piece by James McLindon! Satan is put through his paces by the two Walmart dunderheads he encounters and it couldn't be funnier. His insistence that they choose something more worthy of his talents than providing steakhouse coupons is hilarious. But they got what they wanted, didn't they? A crown pleaser.

Oh the perils of the "advanced feature" feature. This hilarious little gem from Anne Flanagan takes full advantage of the Zoom platform's limitations and runs with them. Functions that are supposed to make things more fun get shown for the problems they really are and no user in this play is safe from them. The 2001 reference is a bonus as well. Loved to see Zoom taken apart in such a fun way.

Progress can be a slow moving drudge, but nowhere is this done funnier than in Morey Norkin's CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Picking apart the logic of trying to dream up two way communication using cups and string, the play also plays on the shallowness of modern society's needs and wants, this is a satire worth seeing. Or hearing. I just hope the actors who eventually do this piece don't phone it in.

Oh wow, was this funny! Telling the truth in such an interaction is the goal, but never has the truth flown free in such a manner. Makes you wonder just how much real interaction is bumpered by euphemism, half-truths, misleading statements and outright lying. I loved the honest assessment of both sides of this equation. Kate Danley has a winner here, if only because everyone on Earth can relate to this, even as no one on Earth would ever actually engage in it. Thank God Kate did.

Apparently, all the UNIVERSE is a stage and God is the lead in this fun little piece from Sam Heyman. A look at performance anxiety in the making (as well as making everything else), we are shown a grizzled old vet teaching the new kid the ropes that hold everything together. And the most important lesson they learn (and it's a lesson we can all benefit from) is, whatever role or job or task comes your way, make it your own. Create with gusto and you'll never be disappointed.

Playing on the power of expectations, Ruben Carbajal's short, but sharp play presents the inevitable result of having THAT famous object onstage (even if it really isn't), and then provides TWO hilarious looks at how that could play out. I'd love to see audiences get the chance to see them both.

A terrific setup for a piece about stifling creative discourse, this play lets some colorful characters find their way back to social interaction in the best possible way, at the pub! With friends! I think the word that describes this play best is... cathartic. Read it yourself and see. Of course, that's only my opinion. Your mileage may vary. Which is precisely the point.

All the mischief that one sock on the floor creates is so appropriate to how many of us deal with life's problems. Let it sit there and it either becomes someone else's problem, or someone else's opportunity. A simple play about a complex subject, in this case, responsibility. This is smart, funny and ends just the way it should. Terrific, Adam!

A seemingly innocent game gives way to a nightmarish struggle of control and punishment in this short by Jonathan Swaan. You realize the cruelty slowly increasing and yet also are led to realize the role of the victim here. At no time does N try to take over the game from A, instead trying their best to comply. When things take a turn for the worse, N retaliates but again, tellingly, never tries to turn the tables on A. An interesting metaphor for how one party can manipulate and vie for control of another.

The lengths some people go to for a date. This little comic gem from Jacquie Floyd (I can't believe I missed this one) posits a reality (HA!) show show about haunted hangouts would have been funny enough with the concept of a haunted coffee shop alone. But it adds in some gender identity issues, a TV crew with more interest in ratings than hauntings, a lesbian barista who's a more concerned with keeping her job and outside beef jerky (definitely not allowed) to spice things up. I am never disappointed with a Jacquie Floyd piece. You won't be either.