History, comedy, and Shakespeare, what more do you want? Called the “trio of Modern Marx brothers” and “intellectual vaudeville,” The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a touring American comedy troupe that performs fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of huge topics.
Known as the “Bad Boys of Abridgment”, the RSC holds the record for the longest running comedy show in London’s West End as three of their shows ran in repertory at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus for almost ten years. They answer fundamental questions, such as, “Why, in fact, did the chicken cross the road?” The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) covers comedy through the ages, from Aristophanes to Moliere, while giving a skewed point of view on history and the world’s most celebrated playwright, Shakespeare.
Tickets to The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged) are far more affordable than tickets to an amusement park, but you’ll come away with the same feeling of nausea and motion sickness. From cavemen telling “Rock Rock” jokes to Will Smith upset at Chris Rock’s jokes and everything in-between, the bad boys of abridgment leave no joke untold as they deconstruct the entire history of comedy in 90 rollicking minutes.