Great monologues. What is a great monologue? Any ideas from the class?

A monologue in its literary term is a long speech given from an actor in a play or
a movie, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program. I like to think of it as a
moment in the course of a story where an audience can take a breather from any
and call action they’ve seen to get a better glimpse as to what is actually going
on. A true calling moment for a character to reveal themselves to us and others.

But what makes a monologue great? If done right, the monologue should be able
to capture the minds and emotions of the audience drawing them in closer and
closer to the next step before--anon--another character speaks or the scene
changes.

What are some movies or plays that you’ve seen/heard that might have some
good monologues?

My best examples of some great monologues are:

“He Was a Boy” from A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNDO3z-4opM (In A Streetcar Named Desire
Blanche DuBois flees her estate in Laurel, Mississippi after a brief affair with one
of her English students to live her with her sister, Stella, and her abusive
husband Stanley, in an absurd bipolar fantasy of thinking if she can run away
from her problems they won’t come out and find her. We find Miss DuBois is in a
tizzy after she reveals to her date of the evening and to the audience of an
estranged ex-husband of whom she was ashamed of because of a secret he
kept hidden during the course of their marriage.)

“To Be or Not To Be” (a classic) from Hamlet by William Shakespeare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuZq-8PUw0 (In Shakespeare’s Hamlet we
meet our troubled hero at a crossroads after learning his Father, King of
Denmark, had not only died but had been murdered by his brother, Hamlet’s
Uncle Claudius to gain the throne and the courtship of Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s
Mother. In this speech, Prince Hamlet contemplates death and suicide as he
bemoans the pain and suffering that life has to offer but acknowleges that the
alternative might be worse.)
“I Am The Seagull” from Anton Chekov’s The Seagull 5:50 - 10:48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv9bPl-XWgQ (We’re going to be watching
two great actors perform two GREAT monologues. One from Konstantine played
by a young Frank Langella and the other by a vibrant and incredible Blythe
Danner in the role of Nina in the 1974 televised play adaptation of Anton
Chekov’s The Seagull. A little backstory...K is a consumed writer who falls for the
vaguely talented Nina who we meet in a play-within-the-play which K wrote for
Nina in the beginning of Act One. As the play progresses there’s love triangles,
bouts of depression, and the murder of a seagull given as a gift to Nina from K as
an act of love. Two years later, in K’s drawing room Nina comes back to K after
having her lover's baby and losing her sense of faith in her acting until she’s cast
in a “second rate” touring company assuring her that she can still work.
Meanwhile, Konstantine is still hellbent in love with Nina and wishes she knew
how much he loves her and wishes her to stay.)

“President” from Independence Day by Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t1IK_9apWs
(I want to show off this monologue because as I had mentioned earlier it takes a
break from all the other action and reveals the true character to the people
around them and the audience watching.)

But not all monologues are existential and dramatic, some of the best ones are
also quite hilarious. There’s mentions from Fargo by the Coen Brothers, or any of
the Mel Brooks or Charlie Chaplin films but for right now I’m going to stray away
from the films and move on to a more lively monologue, and those are what I like
to call a “fishing” monologue. These monologues are more joke based, fishing for
the laughs each time.

These can be seen on any stand up comedy specials. Any favorite stand up
comedians out here? Or any favorite comedic actors that may come to mind?

George Carlin, John Mulaney, Johnny Carson, Gallagher, Redd Foxx, Richard
Pryor, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Andy Kaufman, Joan Rivers,
Kathy Griffin, Lisa Lampinelli, etc etc.

Nathan Lane, George Sellers, Monty Python (Michael Palin, Eric Idle, John
Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Terry Gillam), Lucille Ball (which I know
there will be a class about later today), Jim Carrey, and even for a brief period
Robert De Nero.

These monologues I’m going to show you right now are some of my personal
favorites from little shows like Saturday Night Live which is filmed right in
Midtown at 30 Rockefeller Center to the Academy Awards.

I want you to really pay attention to what jokes are in there, if they’re actually
funny or if it’s just a cheap shot of a celebrity or a hot topic of the time. And see
what the audience thinks of what they have to say. Then, if we have time we can
discuss what we’ve seen and answer each other's questions.

George Carlin - Football and Baseball - Saturday Night Live 1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ebyLkCaAL0

Betty White - Facebook - Saturday Night Live 2010

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv3c4pBZYiI

Bob Hope - 25th Annual Academy Awards - 1953

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOtp4dli7-4

Ellen DeGeneres - 2007 Academy Awards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whgVLNC5KSY

Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin - 2010 Academy Awards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBZj7qIOAE8

Tina and Amy - 2013 Golden Globes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4rSKCXqEw0