Recommended by John Busser

Bruce Karp perfectly skewers the TV novelist-cum-detective genre with this fun little romp that deals with everything from a tiny village with the highest murder rate in the nation, to going out in a blaze of glory (or a hail of bullets). Jessica (Andrea) literally gets the last laugh in this play. Unless you count the ones from the audience.

Wow! That was an eye-opener in so many ways. I really enjoyed this two-hander from Michele Miller. One sister wants to open her siblings eyes as to the cheating nature of her groom-to-be behind her back, and does so in a wonderfully delicate way. We all either give or receive bad news differently, but let's face it, we all tiptoe through those particular minefields. Clark being called on his bullsh*t was as delicious as the wedding cake Annabelle was planning. And Beatrix's last little bombshell made me laugh out loud! Terrific stuff.

An absolutely brilliant monologue about having to watch your dreams play out from the sidelines, while another gets the glory. Paul Smith's wonderful dialogue is both heart-breaking and blisteringly funny. Although Malcolm, the understudy, never EVER gets the chance to act, the real, more interesting drama is happening with him directly on center stage. His final act of playing a role of significance is hilariously appropriate, and he just might, as he says, find a better class of people where he's going. I loved this piece!

Kate Schwartz writes a bitingly funny piece about actors who are overly full of themselves and how they need to get taken down a peg. Full of wonderful language (the insult section would be a hoot to see performed by two actors at the top of their game - there's a lot of twisted and colorful verbiage here) and some genuine laughs, this would be a terrific play to see staged.

As someone who could never leave an action figure in the package, I am a proud collector's item spoiler. I completely bought into this one minute play and would love to see it performed in front of a bunch of folks who live their lives in homes of plastic boxes and sealed packages, never knowing the joy of opening something for the good stuff within. That tearing sound you hear would be their brains.

Steve martin distills in 2 minutes exactly why the premise of this play should probably happen. That is both a compliment and a realization that we are doomed. Of course, it we go out with this bang on winner instead of a whimper, it will have been worth it. Someone produce this before it's too late. Literally.

What better way to realize that while we like to think we are all more than the sum of our parts, most of us are no more than a collection of weird little aspects jammed into a squishy bag holding it all in and walking around with a big stick jammed up our a**. And the sooner we realize that the great big deep fryer is where we're all heading, the better off we'll be. For someone else, that is. This is a fun delight.

Miranda Jonte gives us some very relatable characters moving in what becomes increasingly clear are different directions. Or, given their occupation, different currents. It's a shame that life is like that and here it further drives the two main characters apart. I was struck by how impossible these types of choices are and yet how inevitable. We all have to move our own way and sometimes friendships get chewed up along that way. Whether Ben and Sully manage to chart those new waters is left up to us to decide. Terrific stuff.

Sometimes a person has a much deeper cavity that needs filling. I realize that sounds dirty but it's not what I mean. Miranda has some holes in her character that could use some filling. And no magazine article in a dentists office is going to fill that void. But damn, does this fun little monologue by D. Lee Miller sound authentically vapid enough to make Miranda seem like a real life person, hole-in-character and all. A great monologue for an actress to chew on. Just don't break a tooth doing it.

Matthew Weaver writes a clever and funny as all get out play about the lives of Bigfeet, who, as it turns out, are just like us. Petty, territorial and just wanting our own pot (or tree) to piss in. And yet, they are the best of friends. Just like us. This is delightful stuff from a guy that knows how to stake his territory in the funny zone.