Laughter on the 23rd floor
By: by Neil Simon.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Random House
Published: 1995
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 114
Subjects: Television comedy writers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Drama
Description: Set in 1953, Neil Simon's "flat-out funniest play in years" (Dennis Cunningham, CBS-TV) re-creates the mayhem, neuroses, nonstop gags, and constant one-upmanship of a team of brilliantly funny social misfits as they write The Max Prince Show, a weekly variety program. Among the crew are Milt, the insult artist; Ira, the hypochondriac whose dream is to have a virus named after him; and Val, a Russian emigre who takes a Berlitz course so he can curse without an accent.

They are devoted to their boss, Max, a comic genius, a tyrant, and a paranoiac with a heart of gold. But his penchant for tippling and popping too many pills is growing under the pressures of a rising McCarthyism, network executives, and sponsors who want him to cut back his "too-smart" show and staff so that they can chase after the Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best audience.