Laughter on the 23rd Floor

Neil Simon’s play, properly titled Laughter on the 23rd Floor, is an ensemble comedy that offers a fly-on-the-wall look at a zany television writers’ room in the 1950s, amidst the backdrop of McCarthyism and network pressure for more “advertiser friendly” content. This ensemble comedy features all the attendant comic drama as the harried writing staff frantically scrambles to top each other with gags while competing for the attention of star madman Max Prince. Inspired by the playwright’s youthful experience as a staff writer on the Sid Caesar’s legendary variety show, Your Show of Shows, this story is a roman à clef (a novel or play where real people are represented by fictional characters) that will leaving your laughing the whole night.