THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (abridged)

"An apt description of what the company does is intellectual vaudeville. They are smart, cheeky clowns who present themselves as a collective repository for most of American mass culture." Stephen Holden - New York Times

"What the "Daily Show" might be like if it were hosted by the Marx Brothers." Robert Nesti - Boston Herald

"History has never been this much fun. Or as delightfully mutilated." Bill Brownstein - Montreal Gazette

"The trio succeed in condensing the history of America into two hours of witty satire. At a time when the content of so many comedy acts are limited to dull trips down memory lane and slutty innuendo it was refreshing to hear such intelligent comics at work." Ashling Duffield - The Irish News, Belfast

"Irreverent yet informed, the three performers apply a steady stream of sight gags, sound gags, even smell gags to a broad canvas, turning sacred cows into laughing-stocks along the way. The deliberately loose edges of the show camouflage its careful structure, in the same way the trio's ease with improvisation hides years of rehearsal." Jeanne Cooper - Boston Globe

"A slapstick tour that's as hysterical as it is historical." Bob Mondello - Washington City Paper

"The Reduced Shakespeare Company cheerfully run riot over 500 years of our country's history. During this manic,90-minute program, they mine dozens of landmark events and trends for comic gold. The trio's nimble tongues, rubber-limbed pratfalls and obvious street-performer smarts make this a merry, nose-tweaking outing." Pamela Sommers - Washington Post

"Breathlessly paced, slapstick merriment." Stephen Holden - New York Times

"A common sense review of a show named The Complete History of America (abridged) should be short, in the spirit of the thing itself. But there's nothing quite common about what's doing at the Public Theatre these days. Uniquely ingenious might better describe it. Differently delirious hits the nail on the head." In Pittsburgh

"This is smash and grab history-comedy at its brashest, delivered with breakneck speed by three hilarious performers. Nothing on the liberal-conservative spectrum escapes. Inspired lunacy." Marianne Evett - Cleveland Plain Dealer

"The Reduced Shakespeare Company compresses 500 years into 90 minutes of inspired lunacy. This History offers an unceasing barrage of explosive punch lines, visual and verbal puns and scattershot slapstick. Moreover, the Company hits its targets nearly every time. There is method in the madness of these goofy guys, who have pioneered their own wacky genre while drawing upon such surreal antecedents as Firesign Theatre and Stan Freberg. Ninety minutes of such perceptive, hip and hilarious mayhem isn't enough." Michael Grossberg - Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

"Likable and frequently ingenious." Ray Conlogue - The Globe and Mail, Toronto

"I laughed so much at "The Complete History of America (abridged)" that I didn't take enough notes to write a review the lazy way, by ripping off their best jokes. So I have to go to work and try to explain what they do. Not that I fully can. On paper, the three comics of the Reduced Shakespeare Company may sound like silly, sophomoric smart alecks, whereas they're actually... well, exactly that, but with fully-engaged brains and a purposeful glint in their eyes. These inspired parodists are so good that they play the accordion and they're still funny. And it's never as sophomoric as you think. The RSC technique is to lull you into condescension over some bit of obvious undergraduate foolery and then whipsaw you the other way with a flash of original intelligence or surreal fancy. They belong in select company." Christopher Rawson - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"The funniest act in show business. I laughed my head off." Jerry Friedman - KGO Radio, San Francisco

"These blokes are iconoclastic satirists, and their targets here - when they actually aim for anything more than laughs - include everything from old-fashioned American jingoism and paranoia to the tortured language of political correctness. The trio are ace comedians. Their double takes, silent byplay, antic physical energy, and spontaneous mountebank style are masterful." Nelson Pressley - Washington Times

"Who said that vaudeville is dead? The capacity audience found the trio irresistible." Dennis Cashman - New Haven Register

"Lively, smart, funny and low - that about sums up the Reduced Shakespeare Company's "The Complete History of America (abridged)." The show is blithe and sophomoric in its first half, surreally funny and vaguely threatening in its second. At times "CHA(a)" isn't just funny, it's disturbingly weird - as well as aesthetically adventurous. Things come perilously close to art (don't tell the RSC - it might make them self-conscious and ruin their timing.)" Lloyd Rose - Washington Post

"Mad, but brilliant." Geoff Hill - News Letter, Belfast

"The Reduced Shakespeare Company asks who really discovered America, why Mrs. Lincoln didn't enjoy the play and how many Democrats does it take to screw in a light bulb . The answers? I forget - I was too busy laughing." Grania McFadden - Belfast Telegraph

"Sacred cows all over the United States have, no doubt, been ducking for cover since The Reduced Shakespeare Company started its cavalier romp through The Complete History of America (abridged). Nobody who comes under their spotlight escapes unscathed. But where this slick, intelligent and altogether hilarious production gains extra brownie points is in its benign satire and exceedingly sure touch." Jane Coyle - The Irish Times, Dublin

"This troupe knows how to skewer the not-so-admirable moments in our history and, not only make us laugh, but make us think. It's the funniest two hours I've spent in a long time." Shirley Mathews - Connecticut Post

"Funny, clever, slick, absolutely honestly right-on politically, and with a very sharp script. The pace is fast and the team are definitely talented." Joy Hendry - The Scotsman, Edinburgh

"They've still got it. The Reduced Shakespeare Company continues to deliver delightful satire at breakneck speed." Gina Perille - Boston Globe

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