Mamet Does "Diff'rent Strokes"

Only question is, whom would Alec Baldwin play?

(WILLIS and ARNOLD come home from school. They put their coats on the sofa, and lay their school bag on the table, where milk and cookies have been laid out for them.)

WILLIS: Yo, Arnold. I got a great book in school today. Do you…do you… want to see it? It’s on the history of anti-Semitism.

ARNOLD: Do I want to see it? Yes…yes…do I want to see it? Yes.

(WILLIS removes the book from the bag. In the process he first removes his notebook. A large spliff falls out of the notebook.)

ARNOLD: Is that? That’s pot. Is that?…that’s pot. Is that…pot? That’s pot.

WILLIS: I suppose it is. I…don’t have any idea where it came from, but I suppose you’re right. Did it?…did it fall from my bag?

(At this moment, KIMBERLY descends the long staircase that connects the living room to the upstairs bedrooms.)

KIMBERLY: Hey guys, I’ve got some fresh macaroons from a bakery on Delancey Street. They’ll go great with…what is that you’re holding? Yes. That. What’s that you’re holding…that in your hand. What are you holding in your hand?

(WILLIS looks at ARNOLD, then back at KIMBERLY)

More.

(Via Do the Math, the well-written and hilarious blog maintained by the Bad Plus, a great avant-garde jazz trio whose albums you should own - especially These Are the Vistas (2003) and Give (2004). You're not going to hear many other jazz-trio covers of Nirvana, Black Sabbath, and Blondie, people - nor much better contemporary jazz than "Big Eater," "Silence Is the Question," or "And Here We Test Our Powers of Observation." For some great old-school licks, see this clip of drummers Sunny Murray, Elvin Jones, and Art Blakey bringing the fucking noise..)