Jest Desserts
a sketch comedy confection
by Rich Orloff
Cast: Between 4 and MANY
“JEST DESSERTS is fail-safe funny, with jokes both savvy and silly. It was a huge hit with our audience.”
– Brian Schuth
Stage East (Eastport, Maine)
“The cast had a great time, and the audience was very responsive to this thoroughly funny show.”
– Vic Panciera
Stoningham Players (Stoningham, CT)
“JEST DESSERTS is a romp of a play that pokes delightfully irreverent fun with just about every kind of humor possible. The students had a wonderful experience working on the show, and our audiences found it hilarious.”
– Dorene Fisher
St. Anne’s-Belfield High School (Charlottesville, VA)
“An unqualified hit. Easy to stage and hysterical to watch, JEST DESSERTS is just flat-out funny. Our students and audiences ate the show up with a spoon – and then licked the spoon!”
– Don Goodrum
South Walton High School (Santa Rosa Beach, FL)
“Our students had a ball putting it together, and the audience thought it was hilarious. JEST DESSERTS is the perfect combination of acting and timing that teaches students the art of comedy.”
– Jeanine Henry
– Jeanine Henry
Eastern Florida State College
JEST DESSERTS is a tribute to the art of quick comedy, mixing short sketches, blackouts, one-liners, sight gags, non-sequiturs, slapstick and silliness. Inspired by the TV show LAUGH-IN and classic vaudeville revues like HELLZAPOPPIN, it’s a zany, fun-filled show that revels in the joy of laughter.
JEST DESSERTS isn’t just funny; it’s also flexible. JEST DESSERTS can be performed with or without an intermission. The script consists of 90 minutes of material, consisting of over 50 scenes (none longer than 3 pages, some as short as 3 words), and producing theaters have permission to condense it as needed.
The show can be performed by as few as four or five actors – showing off their comic versatility – or it can have a cast of up to 150! Most of the roles are gender-neutral. Besides, in an “anything for a laugh” show like JEST DESSERTS, it’s perfectly fine for women play men and vice versa. Indeed, it’s a comic tradition!
JEST DESSERTS can be performed with little or no set, using just chairs and tables and simple props. Costumes can be implied by bits of clothing, hats, etc. This is a show that encourages inventiveness over literalness.
In short, JEST DESSERTS is a show designed to fit the varying needs of every kind of performance situation… and every audience that wants to have a fun time.
