NEW YORK—Timing is everything comedy, be it delivering a one-liner, a bit of physical slapstick, or a long narrative with a payoff at the end. The importance of timing is explored in the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord’s “Marcel + The Art of Laughter,” very different, yet inter-related works presented by Theatre for the Audience at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center.
In “Marcel,” created by and featuring the performances of European comics Jos Houben and Marcello Magni, Magni’s character arrives at a non-descript office for a series of tests. These are administered by a by-the-book official and his similarly no-nonsense assistant (both played by Houben).
