Jonathan Caws-Elwitt

“Jonathan Caws-Elwitt has a sparkling wit and a special gift with language.
He also has a huge mint-donut costume.”
—humorist Tim Mollen

“Jonathan Caws-Elwitt is a literary rapscallion.”
—Craig Conley, author of One-Letter Words: A Dictionary

Welcome to the website of playwright and humorist
Jonathan Caws-Elwitt

ITEMS INTRODUCED BY TRIPLE ASTERISKS:

*** My comedy As Long as It’s in the Script: A Sex Farce within a Sex Farce was a finalist in Cheshire Comedy’s “Funniest Play on Earth 2008” contest! This is the second comedy contest in which this play has been awarded finalist status. (More info on my Plays page.)

*** Come This Way, a script written by Murray Suid, Mary D'Arcy, and yours truly, was recently performed (as a staged reading) in a California program of short plays called Acting Locally.

*** My one-act farce The Can of Yams is now available through Baker’s Plays. (More info on my Plays page.)

*** Eclectic genius Craig Conley describes his Moon * Fish * Ocean as “a Zen hand game for one, two, or three players,” noting that “Zen disciples play Moon * Fish * Ocean as a form of mindful meditation, or to determine who will chop wood and who will carry water.” He explains that “a less poetic, secular version of Moon * Fish * Ocean is popularly known as ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors.’” I’m honored to say that I had a, uh, hand in this project! You’ll find the one-panel cartoons I scripted on this page at the M*F*O site.

*** I contributed some “additional funny bits” to Craig Conley’s Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by Sound. At once a reference book, a commonplace book, a work of fantasy and, above all, a volume of wit and playfulness, this unique little tome blends Conley’s signature sensitivity to the awe and magic wrapped up in folkloric phenomena with a mischievous bending of scientific principles to his fanciful purpose. Follow the link to read it online for free or to order a print copy.

*** Is it a work of comparative religion scholarship? Is it a tool for personal growth? Craig Conley's Oracle of the Two-Fold Gods is all of the above ... but it is also, once per chapter, a humor book! I had the honor of creating 22 tongue-in-cheek tidbits to complement the actual guidance and advice contained in the volume.

*** My most recent whimsical appearances in Verbatim: The Language Quarterly took the form of “Phlegmatic Scholarship” [vol. XXXI, no. 1] and “Baseball, Chicago-Style” [vol. XXXI, no. 2].

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View my contributions to the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form.
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