ARTS . Arts Picks

Schmucks

Dec. 3-Jan. 4, $39-$55, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824, wilmatheater.org


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Published: Nov 25, 2008

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"I thought it'd be interesting to have the '30s anarchistic comic meet the '60s anarchistic comic and have them vie for the comedic soul of a failing comic loosely based on the young Woody Allen," says U.K. playwright Roy Smiles of his latest enterprise to grace the Wilma Theater — Schmucks — and its fictional battle royale between Groucho Marx and Lenny Bruce. It was only this past February when Smiles' Ying Tong — A Walk with the Goons made its U.S. debut at the Wilma; all histrionic and surreal and tender was Smiles' take of the Brit radio troupe whose literary-infused antics inspired Monty Python and Tom Stoppard.

As for the Schmucks influence, Smiles has been a student of American humor since his aunty gave him a copy of Mad magazine. "I was allowed to stay up for A Night in Casablanca with the Marxes when I was 8 and was pretty much hooked. Lenny Bruce I got into when I was a floundering standup comic in the 1980s." Plus, Schmucks allows Smiles to examine his obsession with what he calls the "Jewishness" of most American comedy: "Guess I'm just your standard English Protestant agnostic/atheist American Jewish wannabe."

(Read Amorosi's extended interview with Roy Smiles.)

Dec. 3-Jan. 4, $39-$55, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824, wilmatheater.org.