Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors

Amazon.com
There's a telling track on this 1962 reissue called "Nichols and May at Work." It's four unedited minutes of the improv duo cracking each other up to the point where they can barely speak. It's pretty funny even if you're not in on the joke--which is simply that producer Bud Drake suggested they do a bit about doctors. It must have been a good idea, though, because the other 10 tracks (culled from NBC Radio's Monitor show) find Nichols and May cracking everyone else up by giving surgeons ("A Little More Gauze"), psychiatrists ("Interrupted Hour"), and other quacks ("Bedside Manner") a good--and frequently racy--knock on the head. It's brief--clocking in at just over 34 minutes--and Mercury might have repackaged it with Improvisations to Music on one disc. --Michael Ruby

Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors,Mike Nichols & Elaine May,Polygram Records,Comedy,Pop,Sketch Comedy,Spoken / Comedy / Radio Shows,Spoken Word Comedy

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Average customer rating: That's "K" as in "knife". Brilliant! In Retrospect ~ Mike Nichols & Elaine May Do Yourself A Favor... A trendsetting period piece

In Retrospect Mike Nichols & Elaine May Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Classic Comedy | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: Standup Comic Something Like This... The Bob Newhart Anthology Nightclub Years 1964-1968 Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart 2000 Years With... ASIN: B000001EKT Release Date: 1996-05-07

Tracks:

1. Telephone
2. Adultery
3. Disc Jockey
4. Mother And Son
5. A Little More Gauze
6. Morning Rounds
7. Merry Christmas, Doctor
8. Physical
9. Cocktail Piano
10. Bach To Bach
11. Second Piano Concert (The Dentist)
12. Nichols And May At Work

Customer Reviews:

That's "K" as in "knife"........2006-04-23

This CD is a reissue of an old double LP collecting the "best" tracks from Mike Nichols and Elaine May's three comedy albums. Most of it is very funny. My personal favorite is "Telephone", an extended routine about one man's quest to complete a phone call. This is a great sampler of material from a great comedy team.

Brilliant!.......2006-03-24

Nichols and May remind one of a time when comedians understood they did not have to be off-color to be very, very insightful and very, very funny. Track 12 "Nichols and May at Work" is more than delightful as we get a glimpse into their brilliant and sometimes hysterical recording studio work.

In Retrospect ~ Mike Nichols & Elaine May.......2005-07-20

Wonderful trip down Memory Lane ... and a reminder of the tremendous influence these two great writers/performers have had on comedy.

Do Yourself A Favor..........2004-02-04

One of the best comedy albums in existence. Listen to the sound of tradition breaking, as Nichols and May use improvisation to turn the world of sketch inside out.
If you're a comedian, you can't not own this.
If you're a human being, you can't not fall in love with it.

A trendsetting period piece.......2003-07-09

What these 2 artists bring to the table are heaping helpings of warmth, humanity, charm, even sweetness -- not to mention wit and originality. Their trademark parodies of everyday situations, when they work, are nothing short of uproarious. "Mother and Son" and "Merry Christmas, Doctor" are priceless, timeless routines that play so well 40 years later as to show the brilliant vision underlying this artistic duo's act and ability to push the envelope in their time. The question in buying this CD is whether the strength of those cuts, plus the generous quantity of cuts, can compensate for the faded vitality of the others imposed by the passing of time.

Average customer rating: Nichols and May at their best Another review from a Second City student

Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors Mike Nichols & Elaine May Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Classic Comedy | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: In Retrospect ASIN: B000007Q8P Release Date: 1998-06-23

Tracks:

1. A Little More Gauze
2. Interrupted Hour
3. Merry Christmas, Doctor
4. Morning Rounds
5. Transference
6. Calling Dr. Marx
7. Thank You Very Much
8. Out Of Africa
9. Bedside Manner
10. Physical
11. Nichols And May At Work

Amazon.com

There's a telling track on this 1962 reissue called "Nichols and May at Work." It's four unedited minutes of the improv duo cracking each other up to the point where they can barely speak. It's pretty funny even if you're not in on the joke--which is simply that producer Bud Drake suggested they do a bit about doctors. It must have been a good idea, though, because the other 10 tracks (culled from NBC Radio's Monitor show) find Nichols and May cracking everyone else up by giving surgeons ("A Little More Gauze"), psychiatrists ("Interrupted Hour"), and other quacks ("Bedside Manner") a good--and frequently racy--knock on the head. It's brief--clocking in at just over 34 minutes--and Mercury might have repackaged it with Improvisations to Music on one disc. --Michael Ruby

Customer Reviews:

Nichols and May at their best.......2003-09-17

This is the seminal piece from which good modern comedy emanates. These two are the foundation stock. It doesn't get any better than this.

Another review from a Second City student.......2000-05-03

Subtler than the Broadway album ("An Evening with ...") and funnier than "Improvisations to Music", this one takes a few listens to appreciate. Strangely enough, I think that the most hilarious thing on this CD is "Nichols and May at Work", which is a studio session done by the duo that gives you insight on how these sketches are constructed. Recommended for fans and those in the medical profession.

Average customer rating: Mike Nichols & Elaine May comedy CD Drop Dead Masters at work Still more from the Second City student ...

Improvisations to Music Mike Nichols & Elaine May Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Classic Comedy | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music ASIN: B000007Q8N Release Date: 1998-06-23

Tracks:

1. Cocktail Piano
2. Mysterioso
3. Second Piano Concerto
4. Everybody's Doing It
5. Bach To Bach
6. Tango (Background Music 'Jalousie')
7. Sonata For Piano And Celeste
8. Chopin

Amazon.com

Nichols and May's 1958 debut album found them doing what they did best--pulling sharp satire and comedy from midair. The slightest suggestion or hint of scenario could send the duo off on a creative tear, and here they vamp spontaneous routines over pianist Marty Rubinstein's genteel ivory tickling. On the whole, Improvisations is a little more whacked-out and a little less engaging than their later releases. Adventurous bits concerning international intrigue, modern advertising, and daydreaming dental assistants, for example, are dotted with references to apiaries, obscure poets, and oral prophylactics. Still, at its finer moments--like the wonderful "Cocktail Piano," which finds a boss awkwardly wooing his secretary with promises of Andre Kostelanetz on the hi-fi--it's a retro comic treat. --Michael Ruby

Customer Reviews:

Mike Nichols & Elaine May comedy CD.......2005-09-17

Nicely packed and CD is in good shape...

Drop Dead.......2004-02-07

Absolutely amazing, clever, well-organized. Some of the funniest and best comedic bits i've ever heard. the music is prime and the characters, eerily and horribly fun.

Masters at work.......2002-01-09

A terrific improv experiment. Nichols and May listened to selections of music and then created new scenes in counterpoint. In some cases, the dialogue and the music seem to borrow rhythms from each other. In scene after scene, there is the telling use of concrete details, swiftly establishing the characters' social classes, educations, philosophical leanings, etc. "Bach to Bach," a post-coital conversation between two intellectuals trying to impress each other, is some kind of masterpiece in this regard. Improvisers today still have much to learn from these two. An essential part of a comedy/improv collection.

Still more from the Second City student ..........2000-05-03

Not the funniest of the Nichols and May albums, this is the duo's first CD. It consists of various piano pieces which they use as a springboard to launch into improv sets. None of them really made me laugh out loud, but more than one are oddly touching. Recommended for enthusiasts.

Average customer rating:

On My Sleeve Manufacturer: Mike Nichols Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Soft Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B000CA7VW8 Release Date: 2002-07-02

Average customer rating:

The Empty Manufacturer: VIZION ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000HOD4MA

Product Description

1. North of South (3:21) 2. Spare the Rod (4:15) 3. Weak Flesh (3:27) 4. Gone (3:13) 5. What A Sad Sight (4:37) 6. The Blood (3:22) 7. Wall of Facade (4:03) 8. The Empty (3:30) 9. Glory (3:01)

Average customer rating: One of my all-time favorites Essential A review from a second city improv student An Evening With Mike Nichols And Elaine May

An Evening With Mike Nichols And Elaine May (Original Cast Recording) Mike Nichols & Elaine May Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Classic Comedy | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: In Retrospect Something Like This... The Bob Newhart Anthology ASIN: B000007Q8O Release Date: 1998-06-23

Tracks:

1. Telephone
2. Adultery
3. Disc Jockey
4. Mother And Son

Amazon.com

By the time An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May opened on Broadway in late 1960, the satirical Chicago duo was already the toast of the comedy world. Their improvised sketches, deft characterizations, and relaxed, intuitive timing made millions laugh on radio and television. Director Arthur Penn further crystallized those skills, running the pair though longer scenes based on past improvisations--including the smarmy "Disc Jockey," the pointed "Adultery," and the timeless "Telephone" (with a frustrated Nichols begging for his lost dime). This long-awaited reissue is the perfect introduction to their influential work and remains an absolute classic of early-'60s comedy. The Broadway billing was prophetic too--both went on to even greater success on the stage and in film. --Michael Ruby

Customer Reviews:

One of my all-time favorites.......2002-04-13

I grew up with this album, and to this day my sister and I can still recite most of it by heart. So it was a real joy when I found it had been released on CD. This is Nichols and May at their zaniest: the desperate man arguing with the officious telephone operator ("That is Kaplan, K as in knife...") or the NASA scientist being lectured by his mother ("I read in the paper where you keep losing them.")

After all these years, this one remains a classic.

Essential.......2000-01-22

I wish I could give this 5 stars, but I usually skip the "Disk Jockey" track--it's OK, but the other three are just pure gold. I was going to say Nichols usually plays (relatively) straight man to May's loopy characters, but both of them really do get to show off their sense of creativity and humor in the odd ways that seemingly normal people interact. "Adultery" is a set of variations on the same theme: two people meeting at a hotel for a tryst, but in three different countries: The US (where the two obsess about their guilt), England (acting veddy properly, and the man seems to be more interested in the woman's hat than her body), and France (when the woman shows up WITHOUT her husband, the man laments, "But it won't be ze same wizzout George!"). Hilarious. "Telephone" posits Nichols' poor shmuck (he has lost his last dime in a pay phone) against three different telephone company employees, all very inspiringly played by May. "Mother and Son" is a another telephone call, this time between Jewish Mother and put-upon son. You can imagine...("I sat by that phone all Wednedsay, all Thursday, all Friday, [my husband] said 'Phyllis, eat something, you'll faint!'"). This stuff, aside from the practicalities of the telephone service, will never age--it's endlessly enjoyable. Wouldn't it be great if Nichols & May consented to doing some improv together again? Get this for your collection. START a comedy collection with this--you can't do much better.

A review from a second city improv student.......2000-01-11

What a great CD! Though short (40-odd minutes long), it's so funny, and especially impressive to me as an improvisational actress. The bits that are on the album are all live, unpractised stuff, and so funny, you'd think there was a script. Can't wait to get the rest of the albums!

An Evening With Mike Nichols And Elaine May.......2000-01-04

In this age of "explicative deleted" humor I was thrilled to find the reissue of this classic, intelligent and creative album. It is as funny now as it was in the 60's. The repartee and the timing are impeccable. Nichols and May have given us so many entertaining moments throughout the years (He as a Director, she as a writer/director. They collaborated recently on "Birdcage") that it really is a thrill to return to their roots. The album has become such a part of my life that bits and pieces; little snippets from the dialog are an integral part of my everyday life. Each vignette is perfect. Just listen and laugh!

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