About the Play:

Flaming Idiots is a full-length comedy by Tom Rooney. A play about a pair of inexperienced restaurateurs who realize their customer-flow is not as steady as they were hoping for. Their solution to this problem is to stage a murder in the restaurant, taking inspiration from a rival diner across town that has been crowded since a notorious mobster was shot there years ago. What could possibly go wrong?

Flaming Idiots tells the story of two people with a dream and their efforts to become successful in spite of themselves. Carl and Phil (or female leads Carla and Phyllis) decide that the ladder to success at the post office is missing a few rungs. They know that big money is waiting for people with entrepreneurial spirit and sound business judgment. They have lots of the spirit but little of the judgment, and their new gourmet health food restaurant flounders. Their fiercest competitor, Zippy's, has been the local hot spot since an infamous mobster was shot there decades ago. What if someone could get murdered in their restaurant? Flaming Idiots is a contemporary farce that takes place entirely in the restaurant kitchen and takes its title from the name of a cocktail created by one of its characters.

Flaming Idiots was originally presented in 1992 at the TADA! Theatre off-off Broadway in New York City. It was the co-winner of the 1992 New American Comedy Festival. The play has been performed in regional, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female, 6 male (or 4 female, 2 male)

What people say:

"The two 'idiots' are extremely endearing fellows ... In a series of very unlikely events they manage to astound with profound stupidity and yet they somehow prevail against all odds. So, of course, the script is hysterical." — NewsOK

"Rooney's text stays true to farcical form, rife with quick one-liners and even quicker puns. It's as much fun to hear as it is for the actors to say, and the actors are having a blast." — The Austin Chronicle

"Flaming Idiots, is a ... modern parody, yet playwright Tom Rooney has crammed into it all of the classical elements: silly puns, sexual double-entendre, physical humor, absurd plot elements, a tightening skein of complications and action –t he only goal of which is to make people laugh, and laugh hard." — Honolulu Weekly

About the Playwright:

Tom Rooney is an American writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. His awards include The James D. Phelan Award for Literature, The New American Comedy Festival award for Best Play, Best Original Screenplay, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and the Audience Award from the Newport Beach International Film Festival. His plays have been produced throughout the United States as well as in Tokyo, Paris and Copenhagen. As an actor he has appeared in films, television and on stage.