111 One-Minute Comedy Monologues for Teens - Ultimate Audition Book for Acting Tryouts & Drama Class Performances

Unlike Dabrowski's August 2007 offering, My First Monologue, geared toward elementary school children, this volume, meant for teenagers, falls short of its mark. While the pieces are generally humorous, some are pathetic or make little sense (SAT pg. 6, It's a Mystery pg. 40, De-Constructive pg. 110, Illogical pg. 113) and many are so short there isn't a rise and crest to the piece rendering it useful for character work. The monologues are too short for competition and they are not challenging enough even for a classroom setting with beginners.Though the volume isn't spectacular, Dabrowski does use subject matter that is important and interesting to teens including their appearance (Exhibit B-R-A pg. 8, Target pg. 10 and its companion piece on pg. 67 called Nice) and their worries (regarding smelling in Unprepared pg. 7 and about dating in Miss Taken pg. 9 and First Date pg. 82). The book is organized logically with the first half monologues for females and the second half monologues for males. Dabrowski should receive kudos for including a piece about a gay teen (Daytime Diva pg. 91) and she does include three laugh-out-loud scenes, which appeal to our sense of schadenfreude: Outcast pg. 20, Reflection pg. 21, and The Gym pg. 62. She captures the teen voice, but because she doesn't vary it, all of the pieces, both male and female, end up sounding the same. Other teen books currently on the market, such as Peg Kehret's Tell It Like It Is, have more positive aspects than Dabrowski's.