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Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides. A restriction on the right to travel, the will of a totalitarian state. It is here where the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across your city, where the news and television have imprinted this brutal division upon the mind of the world. As long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, the question that remains, the question of freedom for all mankind.
Yet, I do not come here to lament. For I find a message of hope, even in the shadow of this wall. Just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. From devastation, from utter ruin, you have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth. A free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor. We welcome openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity: Come here to this gate. Open this gate. Tear down this wall! To be sure, we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength. Yet we seek peace; so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides. But we must remember a crucial fact: we do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other. And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty. This city stands secure in its liberty. And freedom itself is transforming the globe. Today represents a moment of hope. We stand ready to cooperate to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safer, freer world. Free people: Let us work to bring the city closer together. It would be only fitting to serve as the site of world conferences on issues that call for international cooperation. You have built a great city. You've done so in spite of threats. The city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall. What keeps you here? Certainly there's a great deal to be said for your fortitude, for your defiant courage. But I believe there's something deeper. Something that has seen the difficulties of life but chose to continues to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence, that refuses to release human energies or aspirations, something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says "yes" to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom. In a word, I would submit that what keeps you is "love." Love both profound and abiding. Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction. The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront. Like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed. This wall will fall, for it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.
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I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. We are at a turning point in our history. There are two paths to choose. One is a path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. All the traditions of our past, all the lessons of our heritage, all the promises of our future point to another path -- the path of common purpose and the restoration of American values. That path leads to true freedom for our nation and ourselves. For the sake of our nation, it is time for us to join hands in America. Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the American spirit.
Summary: A woman explains to her mother why she is a cat person and that it won't get in the way of her finding a guy to settle down with ... and if it does, she's still got her "perfect feline life companion."
Comments: Cute funny monologue poking fun at cat lovers a little bit. Stakes of the piece aren't all that high, but an actor could decide the mother the character is talking to is really really worried for her daughter and the monologuist responding emotionally to that and explaining why her cat is so important and special to her could be a tactic to reduce mom's worry. Also, objective could be proving to mom that her cat fulfills her and she's happy and disputing her mom's feeling that dog lovers might have an easier time finding love. Character's Age is 20's to 50's. Character's gender is female. Monologue genre is comedic Monologue is from the collection of monologues Women's Monologues That Are Actually Funny Summary: Our monologuist shares the story of the time she farted so loud and forcefully in her sleep that she woke up in a panic thinking there was an earthquake.
Comments: Conversational, natural speaking tone and rythm. Nice hook opener that sets one expectation (she puts in a real effort to be sexy on date night with her husband) and then delivers the comic blow/punch by undershooting the expectation with what she actually does (shaves legs in sink and semibrush her hair). Author has an ear for monologue and the right word choices for funny. Can almost hear the standup routine, and this monologue is an excerpt from one. Was performed on Comedy Central stage 2013. Downside is its all a past tense story as most standup is. In standup, you're relaying a story as if to friends. It doesn't have the inate dramatic tension a character trying to get something from another character. Though comedians may argue, the entire routine is geared toward getting the audience on their side, delighting them, making the audience relate to them and sympathize with them, to love them. In a sense these are character objectives, though not in traditional sense. Character's Age is 20's to 30's. Character's gender is female. Monologue genre is comedic Monologue is from the collection of monologues Women's Monologues That Are Actually Funny Summary: Jane wriggles out of being her friend Kate's maid of honor.
Comments: Opens with a descent hook that establishes how expensive a wedding Kate has in mind. Sets up that being her maid of honor won't be cheap.7 Jane tries everything she can think of to avoid the moment when Kate will ask her to be her maid of honor for the first several beats of the monologue. Great varied tactics to play. The monologue is a fully realized scene with plenty of reactions to Kate for you to play as Jane. After Kate inevitably does ask Jane the question we see Jane try coming up with a plausible reason why she can't - she's going to die, someday ... we all are but what if she dies before the wedding and ruins it ..,, Finally she tells tue truth. It's going to be very expensive and she'll have a horrible time doing it. She succeeds in Kate letting her off the hook. Button closer, we find out Kate was Jane's maid of honor! Character's Age is 20's to 30's. Character's gender is female. Monologue genre is comedic Monologue is from the collection of monologues Women's Monologues That Are Actually Funny Summary: Our female monologist has followed a woman driving a Prius to a Fresh Foods Market after seeing her litter on the road; she calls out the woman's hipocracy publically in the market for all to hear.
Comments: This monologue is fantasy fulfillment for anyone who has ever felt that the socially and environmentally conscious people they encounter are not entirely as virtuous as they'd like to appear. Monologue has a decent hook in that we learn right away a driver of a Prius has littered. The monologue works that premise pointing out other areas of hypocrisy the monologist has observed. Has a solid button ending on the faux "citizens arrest" by the monologist. A fair amount of frustration and anger in this monologue; which is the core of a lot of comedy especially standup. Actor would have to find a variety of notes. Maybe little enbarrasment on monologist's part of having followed the Prius driver to a market. Energetically it starts a little high energy versus building to a peak of frustration. Actor might be able to work it though. Character's Age is 20's to 50's. Character's gender is female. Monologue genre is comedic Monologue is from the collection of monologues Women's Monologues That Are Actually Funny 1-Sentence Summary: After the Liberty Bell 7 Capsule is lost at sea, Al Harrison, head of the NASA space task group, has to defend his program at a Senate Hearing.
Monologue starts with: "Let me say first ... discovery is never just for the sake of discovery, gentlemen ... but for the sake of human survival." Time and Place: April 1961, NASA campus Virginia. Monologue is a fictionalized account of what leadership at NASA might have said to the NASA Space Task Group after the Russians beat the US to put the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961. Character's age is 40's-50's. Character's gender is male. Character's name is Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner) a fictionalized character created as a composite of various leaders at NASA at the time including Robert C. Gilruth, the head of the Space Task Group at Langley Research Center Monologue genre is dramatic, historic. Find this monologue 1 hour 16 minutes into Oscar nominated movie "Hidden Figures" 2-Minute monologue Monologue Writing 101 Elements (0 = Not Used. 1 = Used. 2 = Strong Usage)
1-Sentence Summary: After finding out they just lost the race to get the first human into space, Al Harrison, head of NASA's Space Task Force, gathers his team in his office.
Monologue starts with: "I want to thank everyone for staying. I know it's late and after what I just saw I'm sure everyone's probably anxious to just go home. Before we do, I just have to ask a question. The same one I've been asking myself all the way over here... which is ...How the hell did we find ourself in second place in a two man race?" Time and Place: April 1961, NASA campus Virginia. Monologue is a fictionalized account of what leadership at NASA might have said to the NASA Space Task Group after the Russians beat the US to put the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961. Character's age is 40's-50's. Character's gender is male. Character's name is Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner) a fictionalized character created as a composite of various leaders at NASA at the time including Robert C. Gilruth, the head of the Space Task Group at Langley Research Center Monologue genre is dramatic, historic. Find this monologue 58 minutes into Oscar nominated movie "Hidden Figures" 2-Minute monologue Monologue Writing 101 Elements (0 = Not Used. 1 = Used. 2 = Strong Usage)
1-Sentence Summary: When a mother is asked by her son if Santa is real, she begins to tell him the truth, but as she sees the psychological damage it will have and flashes back to the moment in her own childhood when she found out, she decides to play it off as a joke and keep the magic alive.
Character's Age is 20's-40's. Character's gender is female. Monologue genre is comedic Monologue is from the collection of monologues Women's Monologues That Are Actually Funny Monologue Writing 101 Elements (0 = Not Used. 1 = Used. 2 = Strong Usage)
1-Sentence Summary: A woman in the "matching bra and panties" stage of her relationship is mortified when her boyfriend decides to do her laundry and discovers her most unsexy and worn out of underwear.
Appreciated: How the character is freaking out internally throughout the interactions with her boyfriend about the underwear, while outwardly trying to pretend nothing is wrong. Character's Age is 20's to 50's. Character's gender is female. Monologue genre is comedic Monologue is from the collection of monologues Women's Monologues That Are Actually Funny Monologue Writing 101 Elements (0 = Not Used. 1 = Used. 2 = Strong Usage)
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