"A must for actors, writers and directors! 'All the Tricks of the Trade... ' is an indispensable handbook and practical performance manual, which lives up to its title. It provides a detailed guide to performing all genres of all periods, from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century, including comedy of manners, farce, the comic film, and the television sitcom. It gives actors, directors and writers all the details fo how to create comedic characters using the Stanislavsky system. Actors and directors will constantly consult chapter 1, with its compendium of all the comedic tools and techniques (how to tell jokes, the different takes, deadpan, double-talk, etc. ) and its summary of Iazzi and physical comedy techniquest (different kinds of falls, dealing with props, faked injuries, and so forth. )" -- back cover.