"What the 'Daily Show' might be like if it were hosted by the Marx Brothers."
- Robert Nesti, The Boston Herald
"It is as if Penn and Teller had met Tom Lehrer and combined their respective talents. A wonderful sense of comedy is combined with a sharply written satirical text. Do not miss them."
- Richard Edmonds, The Birmingham Post, Great Britain
"Very funny, energetic, and unpredictable."
- San Francisco Bay Guardian
"I crawled from my seat, sides aching from laughing at just under two hours of zany, crazy, but oh-so-clever madness. Sell your house, sell your granny, but do whatever you can to get a ticket - it's one holy roller of a night."
- Evesham Journal, Great Britain
"It's All Things Reduced!" RSC Partners Reed and Austin take you behind the scenes of one of the world's best-loved touring comedy troupes. Catch the latest news, reviews and interviews with the RSC Weekly Podcast. It's the RSC without the smells!
Our Podcasts have been ranked in iTunes Top Ten in the US and the UK, and nominated for two 2007 People's Choice Podcast of the Year Awards in the Best Produced and Cultural / Arts categories.
So what are you waiting for? It's free, it's easy, and you don't need an iPod! Subscribe today!
The RSC's hit stage show now on CD in 37 tracks - everything from "In the Beginning Blues" to "That's Armageddon!". Hear Austin Tichenor, Reed Martin, and Matthew Croke's celebration of the Great Book as they do what they do best, teaching you nothing while explaining everything."
"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." - Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It’s the RSC’s only musical, and now you can hear all the songs from the stage show - all of the music and none of the dances."
It's Apocalypse Postponed as the Bad Boys of Abridgment dissect 1000 years of world history in order to prevent the dawn of Judgment Day. In their first musical, the RSC turns their twisted sensibilities to the most famous and infamous characters, discoveries and events of the millennium. The last 1000 years will never be the same!
Rollicking and irreverent, this treatment of the Noble Bard is reminiscent of the Marx Brothers. Complete with music and sound effects, the actors reenact the complete works of William Q Shakespeare. There are highlight bits from the stage shows, but mostly new material written and performed by Adam Long, Austin Tichenor, and Reed Martin.
A very fun and loose performance by the RSC members as they banter and perform around just one microphone, reminiscent of the old time radio comedy shows. Each volume contains 2 parts of the 6-part series.
Finally! A holiday album by the RSC. One solid hour of non-stop holiday hilarity. Get Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, all in one. Featuring the novelty song "Mrs. Santa Claus", Reed's wholesome Holiday poem, Dickens' Christmas Carol reduced to five minutes, and much much more. This recording was originally produced for Public radio International and parts of it have been heard on Dr. Demento.
The record-breaking hit - all 37 plays in 97 minutes - filmed in front of a live audience!
Life is short. The complete works of Shakespeare are long. To the rescue: The Reduced Shakespeare Company, the three-man comedy troupe known for fast, funny, physical condensations of real serious stuff.
They wrap up the Bard's outsized oeuvre in 90 roller-coaster, rib-tickling minutes. After warming up with a nothing-is-sacred send-up of Romeo and Juliet, they’re off, dispensing with the comedies in one fell swoop (because the tragedies are funnier). You see Othello as a rap song, Titus Andronicus as a cooking show, and the show’s unforgettable finale - Hamlet - told with the help of audience members and lascivious sock puppets.
Watch an excerpt from the COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (abridged) DVD.
See them perform the 1920's, 30's and 40's as an old-time radio show, sponsored by Lucky Stroke Cigarettes, "You’re a Lucky Guy to have a Lucky Stroke."
An Indian folk story on how the world began: "In the beginning, all was water. Now living above the water, there was a Coyote, a Duck, and another Duck... and they walk into a bar."
And learn about deep US conspiracies...
"Did you know there is a group of dyslexic Devil-worshipers in the Ozarks that have sold their soul to Santa?"
Watch an excerpt from the THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (abridged) DVD. (Rated PG-13: Pretty Good - if you're 13)
November 1, 2007, North Hollywood, CA - We just finished filming the second Workshop Taping of "The Week Reduced", a late night comedy show currently being considered by TBS. Stay tuned for more details!
"The Week Reduced", created by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, will be a weekly half-hour satire of TV news programs, sort of a combination of "Weekend Update" and "The McLaughlin Group", that makes no distinctions between serious and light news. Nicole Richie's weight-loss will be treated with the same seriousness and gravity as the War in Iraq. Probably more.
As seen on TV!
Wogan – BBC
Today Show – NBC
Pebble Mill – BBC
CBS Sunday Morning
This Morning – BBC
Parallel Nine - BBC
What's Up Doc - BBC
Notes & Queries – BBC
Edinburgh Nights - BBC
Zig & Zag – RTE Ireland
Show Biz This Week - CNN
Good Morning America - ABC
Wide Angle – Anglia, Britain
Late, Late Show – RTE Ireland
Up The Junction – Thames, Britain
Good Greif, Moncreif – RTE Ireland
Reduced Shakespeare – PBS Special
Packet of Three – Channel Four, Britain
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune – New Zealand
Ring Reduced TV Special – Channel Four, Britain
Watch the Reduced Shakespeare Company give clues on "Jeopardy!"
Love Shakespeare? You'll like this book. Hate Shakespeare? You'll love this book.
From the RSC comes a single volume boasting everything you always wanted to know about William Shakespeare's life and work, but couldn't be bothered to ask. In one slim volume, Reduced Shakespeare delivers the plays, the life, and the legend in twelve easy pieces.
What's the theme of Hamlet? Poop or get off the pot. What's essential preparation for an evening of outdoor Shakespeare? Bring lots of coffee and use the bathroom before the show.
Sprinkled with lists, definitions, quizzes, essential vocabulary, and the Reduced Shakespeare Company's trademark irreverence and wit, this reduced handbook will delight enthusiasts, skeptics, and fledgling fans alike.
THE GREATEST STORY EVER SOLD A Considered and Whimsical Illumination of the Really Good Parts of Holy Writ
By Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor
Reduced Shakespeare Company, Sonoma, CA
To learn more about booking, obtaining performance rights, or purchasing merchandise, please visit us at: www.reducedshakespeare.com
Reduced Shakespeare Company Sonoma, CA US www.reducedshakespeare.com MySpace profile design by Khushi Bhatia
Reduced Shakespeare Company is performing "Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)" at Center Rep in Walnut Creek CA Nov. 12-14.Go to http://lnk.ms/0s7fG for info. Posted at 11:32 PM Nov 5 view more
The Reduced Shakespeare Company is a three-man comedy troupe known for taking long, serious subjects and reducing them into short, sharp comedies. They have created six stage shows, two television specials, and numerous radio pieces. In addition to ongoing tours of the U.S. and Great Britain, they have performed at the White House, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and London's West End. The boys have been seen on all the major American and British television networks and are heard frequently on both National Public Radio and the BBC... More »
Reduced Shakespeare Company Productions
COMPLETELY HOLLYWOOD (abridged)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theater... America's "bad boys of abridgement" take on America's largest export (well, except for weapons) and go about savaging show biz.
"One of the greatest, sustained pieces of physical comedy I have ever seen. There are brilliant pieces of comic invention. Go see. Buy tickets now." - BBC
ALL THE GREAT BOOKS (abridged)
Confused by Confucius? Thoroughly thrown by Thoreau? Wish Swift was swifter? Tennyson tinier? Then buckle up and hop aboard as the three cultural guerrillas of the RSC zip through everything you didn't get around to reading in school.
"Verbally dexterous and physically agile. The show darts from satire to silliness to sophisticated irreverence." - Ed Siegel, The Boston Globe
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (abridged)
600 Years of History in 6000 seconds! The RSC tackles such controversial questions as: Who really discovered America? Why did Abe Lincoln free the slaves? How many Democrats does it take to screw in a lightbulb? History is normally written by the winners... now it's the RSC's turn.
"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
THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (abridged)
Yes, it's an affectionate, irreverent roller coaster ride from fig leaves to Final Judgment as the boys tackle the great theological questions: Did Adam and Eve have navels? Did Moses really look like Charlton Heston? And why isn't the word "phonetic" spelled the way it sounds? Can bolts of lightning be far behind?
"The RSC put the 'fun' back in fundamentalism."
- J. Wynn Rousuck, Baltimore Sun
WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE COMPLETE MUSICAL (abridged)
1000 Years in 100 Minutes! From Beowulf to Baywatch! They shook up Shakespeare. They annihilated American History. They abridged the Bible. And now, the Reduced Shakespeare Company massacres the Millennium with a brand new reduction - a musical/comedy version of the last 1000 years!
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (abridged)
All 37 Plays in 97 Minutes! An irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard's plays, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was London's longest-running comedy - 10 years at the Criterion Theatre. Praised by the Los Angeles Times as "wildly funny" and by the Montreal Gazette as "the funniest show you are likely to see in your entire lifetime."
Did you know that...
In the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game, Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor each have a Bacon Factor of 1 because we performed voices in BALTO, who was played by... Kevin Bacon.
The RSC holds the world record for the fastest ever performance of HAMLET. There was an East German troupe who did it faster, but their Ophelia tested positive for steroids and was disqualified.
Sir Ian McKellan came to our show in London's West End – and we have proof. See for yourself!
Austin acted opposite Camryn Manheim and Michael Badalucco on THE PRACTICE, then Richard Schiff on THE WEST WING. Each one of them won Emmies for that season. Coincidence? You decide.
Reed is a former Ringling Bros' Circus Clown and Assistant Ringmaster and played 84 cities in two years (over a thousand performances), including Madison Square Garden and the New Orleans Superdome.
Joan Rivers came backstage to congratulate us on a great show. She was on her way to QVC to sell jewelry.
Get more Reduced trivia »
Ever wondered what to do in the event of a nuclear threat?
A while ago I found stuff that inspired me to make this film:
Living Under the Shadow of the Nuclear Umbrella
Both artistic (ensure you get the background music!) and educational, it primarily comprises official British government civil defence advice.
Though source materials are quite aged, much remains relevant today.
I encourage all to visit the YouTube page to learn more (Show support! Rate! Comment!) and responsibly circulate as widely as possible, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaIim3Rj7L4
I saw the complete works of Shakespeare(abridged) by you several years ago in London at the Criterion Theater, and the other day I saw a commercial that you're playing in my hometown, Walnut Creek CA. So I called and got tickets, and I'm taking my parents on Saturday!
You guys are very talented, I remember last time I was laughing so hard it hurt. It was definitely a highlight of that vacation, as I don't really remember much else we did on that trip.
Good to have you as a friend! So great to see the internet in action this way, shortening distances between people.
I hope all's well with you and that you enjoy checking out my web site some time.
For occasional, new, refreshing, insightful and (possibly?!) valuable content, I encourage you to sign up for my free newsfeed/email newsletter (using the form on site at page right - high quality, low quantity, no spam!).
You might enjoy watching some of my films (use the on screen controls to skip between them):
Hi, my new song ,:Its gonna turn” is movin up the music row charts, it would mean a lot to me if you could request it on your country radio station. Thanks so much, Luv Ya Britt!!!! >
All four tracks from Remedy's debut EP, "DOSAGE" are now available for purchase and download for 99¢ each directly from our website www. RockBandRemedy. com!Come check it out, and please let us know what you think, good or bad. Also check out our video for "Pinkylead".
WE ARE PLAYING CHURCHILL'S TONIGHT AUG.1ST IN MIAMI, MAKE SURE YOU COME OUT AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL SCENE, AND GET YOUR FREE COPY OF OUR EP "DOSAGE"!!!!!!
Hello Reduced Shakespeare Company Good morning, good day and good night and all other good things. Swing by to sample the savory goodness that is showbizzle dot com! Mmmm good...and good for you too. Good stuff.
Come see us… www.showbizzle.com Join us! Sign-up! Load a video! Be good!
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