MOVEMENT TWO:
the Irish wake
The idea of a breakfast nook.
A small breakfast table, wooden and round with drop leaves and rolling feet, appears, and a hanging lamp appears over it.
A door leads to an unseen kitchen.
And they all sit around their old breakfast nook and tell jokes and philosophize and fight about politics and drink whiskey and eat Chex party mix out of a big red tin.
The night before the funeral.
Someone has just told a joke. They are all laughing at it.
3 is pouring whiskey.
4
Letâs have another.
3
Whatâs an Irish wake without Jamesonâsâ
3 pours whiskey into 1âs, then 2âs, then his own glass.
1
A wake should have a body shouldnât itâso weird to leave the hospitalâto leave the bodyâ
Like we were abandoning him . . .
5
Without a ritual . . .
1
Yesâ
3 pours into 4âs glass.
4
I meant letâs have another jokeâbut Iâll keep the whiskey, thank you very much.
2
Anyone got another joke?
4, the joke teller, is an internist. 3 is a surgeon. So 4 tells the joke pointedly to 3.
4
I do. An internist dies and goes to Heaven (as you would expect after a lifetime of selfless service to mankind) . . .
3
Yeah, yeahâ
4
Anyway, St. Peter is taking him on an orientation tour, showing him the golf course, the fitness centerâ
2
Is there a hot tub?
4
Absolutely. Anyway, itâs time for lunch so they go to the heavenly cafeteria and stand in a long line. Soon, a man with a long flowing beard, wearing scrubs and surgical clogs, with a stethoscope around his neck, comes in and goes right to the front of the line. The internist asks St. Peter, âWho the hell is that guy?â St. Peter responds, âOh, thatâs God, he just thinks heâs a surgeon.â
Some laugh.
Some groan.
3 cheers.
3
Thatâs right! To God!
2
You tell one, Annâ
1
I can never remember jokes. Is that a woman thing?
3
Yes. Just kidding.
1
(With irony) Hilarious.
Maybe I never learned jokes because I didnât go to medical school.
4
(To 3) Itâs true. We did learn jokes in medical school.
1
No one really tells jokes anymore. They tell sort ofâironic stories with no punch lines. Do you think thatâs less democraticâthat stand-up comedians have sort of ironic personasâbut no jokes you can retellâ
3
I donât think itâs about irony, itâs about political correctness, you canât offend anyoneâ
1
Oh please letâs not say political correctness tonightâ
5
Itâs better to offend people?
3
No really, weâve become humorlessâ
2
How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?
2, 3, 4, AND 1
Thatâs not funny!
1
Okay, okay, enough. AnywayâI can only remember one joke.
2
Tell it!
1
(Dramatic) Soâthis carrot was crossing the road. True story. And he gets run over by a truck and heâs bleeding in the road, and thereâs carrot blood everywhereâ
2
(Overlapping and chuckling) Carrot bloodâ
1
âand his friend takes him to the doctor and the doctor comes out of surgery, pulls his mask down, and says, âI have some good news and some bad news,â and the friend says, âOh doctor, please tell me the good news first.â âAll right. Your friend is going to live.â âOh, thank God, thank God, doctor. Whatâs the bad news?â âWell, Iâm afraid heâs going to remain a vegetable for the rest of his life.â
Some laugh, some groan.