By Courtney Pierce
Whether it’s the hilarious sarcasm of Rex Pickett’s Sideways or tackling a taboo subject as in Greg
Isles’s Natchez Burning, many writers
have given me the courage to push forward. I’m fortunate that my day job, too, inspires me to be a better writer. You see, I’m on the business side of touring Broadway theater, so my own books are quite visual. I’ve logged a lot of time in a velveteen seat.
Like books and movies, live theater thrives on the magic of
timing. Every night is a different show, depending on how an actor recites his lines. A phrase of dialogue
delivered with just the right tone, accompanied by an expression or gesture for
punctuation, can make or break the performance. All timing. Stage plays remind
me to note all the details that go into setting up the punchline. One amazing
writer, in particular, was a master at it.
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| Photo: Getty Images |
His name was Neil Simon.
Simon’s brand of comedy captured the joys embedded in urban blight,
including conflict with one’s religion, explosive family dynamics, and marital
dysfunction. His works spanned the stages of life: the ridiculousness of pubescence
in Brighton Beach Memoirs, the woes
of a newly married couple in Barefoot in
the Park, all the way to two naughty old coots in The Sunshine Boys with Walter Matthau and George Burns. His plays (and
subsequent films) highlighted the ordinary stresses of the human condition and
rendered them extremely funny.
Like all writers tend to do, Simon incorporated his real
life into his work. It’s what made the stories genuine and heartfelt. A brilliant example of this is in his
screenplay for The Out-of-Towners, where what can go wrong does
go wrong to a Midwest couple coming to New York for a simple job interview. The
momentum of disaster is unstoppable. We can all relate to
airport delays, hotel mix-ups, having our wallets stolen, and getting stuck
out of town without any cash. But when Neil Simon writes about these things,
they’re over-the-top and knee-slapping hilarious..
Back in the 1990s, I met Neil Simon while attending a
theater conference in New York. It was during his successful run of Laughter on the 23rd Floor at
the Richard Rogers Theatre. We weren’t friends, mind you, but when one is in
the biz, it’s not uncommon to have passing conversations with bigger-than-life
people. And he was just that—a
humble, ordinary guy who enjoyed extraordinary achievement. Mr. Simon embodied what he wrote on
the page: quick with a one-liner that was said with a wink. As I recall, we
were standing at a light to cross the street and chatting about the trash piled
up on the street. I asked a simple question: “What do you think is in that
middle bag?” He gave me a twinkly look, and then said, “You don’t wanna know . .
. or do you?”
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| Photo: NBCU Photo Bank, via Getty Images |
Speaking of that play, Mr. Simon wrote Laughter on the 23rd Floor to share his early days of collaboration with the likes of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Phil
Silvers, and Mike Nichols. The funny bar
for Mr. Simon was pretty darned high. His genius turned a story’s most painful
moments into an opportunity to make the audience laugh out loud. Don’t we all
do that to cope with an uncomfortable situation? It’s a technique that I have
used in my own books time and time again.
In the movie version of The
Odd Couple, who can forget the priceless dinner scene that defines the roommate
relationship?
“Kindly remove that spaghetti from my poker table,” Walter
Matthau says.
Jack Lemmon shakes his head and turns up his nose. “It’s not
spaghetti. It’s linguine.”
Matthau picks up the plate and hurls it at the kitchen refrigerator.
The Rorschach-like explosion of tomato sauce and pasta goo prompts a perfect snarky
remark: “Now, it’s garbage.”
In August of this year—just
before Labor Day—Neil Simon
passed away at the age of 91. No matter if on the stage, the big screen, or on
cable, his writing will endure for the ages to make us laugh, cry, and guffaw.
And in keeping with a long-standing Broadway tradition, the
lights will dim at eight o'clock in every theatre in New York. A moment of
silence will follow to acknowledge the loss of one of its treasures. The downbeat of the overture will start the show, and Neil Simon’s
spirit will rise with the curtain to inspire the actors to give the performance
of their lives.
Farewell, Neil Simon. We will miss you.
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| Coming Soon! Book 3 of the Dushane Sisters Trilogy |
Check out all of Courtney's books at
windtreepress.com. Both print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com
The Dushane Sisters Trilogy concludes with Indigo Legacy, due out in summer, 2018. There's love in the air for Olivia and Woody, but will their family intrigue get in the way? Ride along for the wild trip that starts in a New York auction house and peaks in a mansion on Boston's Beacon Hill. The Dushane sisters finally get the answers they've been seeking about their mother.
2 comments:
Thanks Courtney for a great tribute to a writer who inspired and entertained so many. I wasn't aware that he collaborated with some of the funniest writers who entertained me over the years. Some of the skits just reading their names bring to mind have me smiling with memories.
There aren't many comedy writers like Neil Simon these days. I own all of the movies I refer to in the tribute, and I never tire of them. In fact, I watch them over and over to listen to his dialogue. So great...and done without violence, profanity, or sexual explicitly. Thanks for the props, Judith!
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