Playwright
Jonathan Rand is among the most popular contemporary playwrights writing today, his stage plays having been performed over 30,000 times in theaters across 73 countries. According to an independent survey of American schools, Jonathan’s comedy Check Please was the #1 most-produced short play every season for over two decades. A four-time Heideman Award finalist, his work is published by Random House, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Concord Theatricals, Smith & Kraus, Dramatics magazine, and Macmilllan. Jonathan also served as CEO and co-founder of Playscripts, a publishing and performance licensing company for new stage plays and musicals, serving tens of thousands of theater groups with an exclusive catalog of over 2,700 titles by over 1,500 writers. It was featured by NPR for “bringing the business of theater into the 21st century” and ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the nation’s fastest growing companies. (Playscripts was acquired in 2014.) Jonathan is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and hails from Jacksonville, Florida.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Welcome to WOMG Action News, the most trusted news team since the invention of trust, news, and teams. Join lead anchors Babs Buttlebee and Jim Pickles as they usher us through tonight's top stories -- from adorable killer puppies, to Apocalypse status updates, to an old man grumbling about old man things. Tune in to WOMG Action News! Or don't and suffer the consequences...
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Through a series of metaphorical and literal comedic vignettes, The Acts of Life follows one family across multiple generations as they grapple with those big stages: dating, marriage, childbirth, school, parenthood, and beyond.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Ending a relationship is never easy -- unless, of course, you outsource the task. Desperate for a way out, Lily turns to The Breakup Center, where she can pick the perfect method from a selection of real breakups. But which approach will she choose? Reverse psychology? A team of lawyers? A tasteful emoji? Either way, somebody's about to get dumped.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Dating can be hard. Especially when your date happens to be a raging kleptomaniac, or your grandmother's bridge partner, or a mime. Check Please follows a series of blind dinner dates that couldn't get any worse -- until they do. Could there possibly be a light at the end of the tunnel? (See also Check Please: Take 2 and Check Please: Take 3.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Soon after their relationship ends, Guy and Girl are forced by their well-intentioned best friends to plunge back into the dating pool. Unfortunately that pool is filled with foot-reading psychics, frustrated polygamists, and extreme accountants. And pirates. But are the blind dates really that unbearable? Yes. Yes they are. (See also Check Please and Check Please: Take 3. This play can be read or performed without any knowledge of the other two versions.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Best friends Guy and Girl used to be a couple. Desperate to buck singlehood, they decide that even considering their atrocious blind dating track record, it's worth another shot. But after struggling through dates with a wannabe rock star, a vote-starved politician, and the guy who does those intense movie trailer voice-overs, there's the inevitable question: Which is better -- staying single the rest of your life, or suffering through a series of the worst dates in history? (See also Check Please and Check Please: Take 2. This play can be read or performed without any knowledge of the other two versions.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Crazytown is a low-tech evening of comedy designed to be performed by a cast of four, but expandable to over 70 actors. Take a tour of the most messed up town in America, from the police interrogation room where the nicest guy in town is issued a strange ultimatum, to the elementary school for a heated political debate on critical issues like tater tots. Welcome to Crazytown, where our motto is: Welcome to Crazytown.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Brad comes home from school one day to find his parents waiting for him, deeply concerned. They have found a secret that Brad stashed away in his underwear drawer: an algebra book. That's right -- Brad has been studying behind their backs, instead of following his parents' strict insistence on sex, drugs, and rock & roll. What unfolds is a parody of all those insufferable after-school specials that made us who we are today.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Is someone calling you hurtful names? Bullying you online? Spreading malicious rumors? Well, fear not: You can depend on F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S.: the Foremost Anti-Bullying Unit Looking Out for Undermined Students. With their strength, savvy, and a simulator that predicts the future, this lean, mean anti-bullying team will be there to protect you against bullies of all shapes and sizes.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Kaitlyn Parker and Bobby Grantwood square off for the political debate of the century: student president of their elementary school. No topic is off-limits, be it cootie prevention, kickball roster justice, or -- most critically of all -- tater tots. Presented in a town hall format, all the hard-hitting questions come from fellow students in the audience. Who will win? America’s very freedom hangs in the balance. Or at least a decision as to whether Santa is real. (This play can also be performed as part of the full-length play Crazytown.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Some job-seekers will do anything to claw their way up the corporate ladder. In a fast-paced series of hilarious interviews, the new recruits try every trick in the book -- from bribery, nepotism, and the Old Boy Network, to blackmail, seduction, and mind control.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Want to know the easiest way to make it through the grueling abyss known as high school? A group of student agents infiltrate an assembly to demonstrate their secret tips and tricks, ranging from legally changing your name to get around roll call, to using Tom Cruise to help memorize science terms. High school will never be the same.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
In the fairy tale criminal justice system, the characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes are represented by two separate yet equally ridiculous groups: the fairy tale police who investigate fairy tale crime, and the fairy tale district attorneys who prosecute the fairy tale offenders. These are their stories. (There's also a follow-up to this play called Law & Order: Rhymes and Misdemeanors -- either play can be performed independently of the other.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Want to perform a classic play that’s too offensive for your town? Then the Play Purifier is the product for you! Sit back and relax as the good people from You’re Welcome, America present sample scenes from plays that have been treated with this exciting new technology. Wipe away that dirty David Mamet profanity! Violence in Shakespeare? Gone. And what about those pesky love scenes? The Play Purifier has got you covered!
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Welcome to the thrilling world of watching dudes watch sports. Finally, the match-up the entire nation has been waiting for: the historic showdown between veteran slacker Donald Baxter and rookie sensation slacker Michael Felton. Legendary sportscasters Merv Johnson and Tim Bixby are there to break down all the exhilarating action, LIVE from that couch by the TV. (This play can also be performed as part of the full-length play Crazytown.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Two friends discover an incredible online simulator that shows them exactly what each of their future college roommate experiences will look like. Yet after a few minutes with a raging narcoleptic, a world-class procrastinator, and a children's party clown, it may be time to seriously consider living alone.
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
One murder, twenty suspects. Who killed Mysterious Host? Could it be Respected General? What about Wealthy Dowager? Or maybe it was Santa Claus. The mystery unfolds as Inexplicably Omniscient Inspector takes on the most thrilling and baffling murder case in the history of thrilling and baffling murder cases. (A short version of this play is also available.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
One murder, twenty suspects. Who killed Mysterious Host? Could it be Respected General? What about Wealthy Dowager? Or maybe it was Santa Claus. The mystery unfolds as Inexplicably Omniscient Inspector takes on the most thrilling and baffling murder case in the history of thrilling and baffling murder cases. (A full-length version of this play is also available.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Meet Sheldon Grimes, the nicest guy in town. Unfortunately for Sheldon, in this town, being a nice guy is prohibited by law. But after a crash course from a pair of local police detectives and a very special specialist, Sheldon might just learn to be a jerk fast enough to stay out of prison. (This play can also be performed as part of the full-length play Crazytown.)
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Today you will be one of many star witnesses in the most controversial trial the world has ever seen: America sues the entire concept of unsolicited junk email. Tension mounts as we hear testimonies from a Nigerian prince, a debt reducer, and a purveyor of life-changing, body-enhancing pills. The fate of America's inboxes lies in the hands of a single jury...
Comedy
by Jonathan Rand
Due to budget cuts there will only be a single session of Drama One for the entire school year. And the class will only last 20 minutes. And the students must perform an entire Shakespeare play for a schoolwide assembly during a time slot of only 10 minutes. Under the direction of the egomaniacal Mrs. Gunnysack, these rookie thespians pull together for the fastest, cleanest, lowest-budget rendition of Romeo and Juliet the world has ever seen, complete with a makeshift balcony, avant-garde swordfights, and an Elizabethan hip-hop dance party to end all Elizabethan hip-hop dance parties.