I Joke Too Much - The Theatre Director's Tale

Name: I Joke Too Much - The Theatre Director's Tale
Price: 29.99 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9781919483238

Michael Rudman, Simon Callow

$29.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We will update you on expected arrival time to us. If this delay is too long, please let us know within 2 business days and we can give you options regarding cancelling or adjusting your order. More details on cancelling your order can be found in our Terms of Trade.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Salamander Street Limited
05 May 2026

Theatre: individual actors & directors; Theatre direction & production; Autobiography: arts & entertainment

In I Joke Too Much, the American-born director who helped shape British theatre takes you behind the scenes-from provincial playhouses to the bright lights of the National Theatre, Broadway and the West End.

Along the way, Rudman meets brilliance, chaos, panic, genius and the occasional truly catastrophic audition-often in the same afternoon.

These are theatre tales with bite: auditions that spiral into farce, rehearsals that turn into rewrites, nights when everything goes wrong and somehow the show still works. There are run-ins with legends, moments of accidental truth and the director's constant tightrope walk between confidence and terror.

Rudman tells it all with an unshowy generosity and a razor-sharp ear for human comedy. The result is funny, frank and unexpectedly tender: a portrait of an artist at work, and of a ""golden age"" of theatre, remembered from the inside.

By: Michael Rudman
Foreword by: Simon Callow
Imprint: Salamander Street Limited
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm,
ISBN: 9781919483238
ISBN 10: 1919483233
Pages: 318
Publication Date: 05 May 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for I Joke Too Much - The Theatre Director's Tale

“Everyone who loves the theatre will have a wonderful time reading Michael Rudman’s witty memoir, and those who think they aren’t interested in the theatre will still enjoy the stories and the jokes (you can’t have too many)—all good ones! In fact, I found myself wanting to revisit every single one of his productions: since that is not possible, a vivid and at times moving book will have to do.” Lady Antonia Fraser