Word: comically
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...talking-head format allows Roth to play to his strengths of critical intelligence and pitch-perfect ear. Few writers can touch him when it comes to the illusion of natural dialogue or the comic possibilities latent in high- mindedness. Deception is not a full orchestration of Roth's abilities but a chamber version. Stripped of narrative, the voices are free to play off each other. They may also offer the most delicious deception of all. Could this skeletal novel be just loosely stitched exercises from Roth's notebooks? Mirrors, mirrors on the wall, who's the falsest of them...
...Washington share a consensus in favor of statehood for the capital. Congressional Democrats nominally support creation of "New Columbia," which would have two seats in the Senate and one in the House, all certain to be filled by Democrats. But Republican opposition and the district's propensity for comic-opera government keep statehood low on the agenda...
Referring to the Republicans angling for the job he is giving up, the governor said, "compared to those guys, I'm charismatic. I'm the greatest stand-up comic in the world compared to those guys. Don't let it happen...
Such misadventures are more comic than calamitous. But a close look at altruistic American advisers in Hungary prompts the serious question: Can the techniques of democracy be taught...
...emphasizing the comic value of Kent and the other callers, however, director Dan Balsam loses some of the critical edge of the play. Bogosian does not seem to intend to de-emphasize the horror of this culture, and the problem with Talk Radio is its overemphasis on the comic at the expense of the work's critical purpose. The serious mood with which the show closes does not adequately redirect the focus of the audience...