Is cruelty a necessary element in humor?

What's so funny about watching another person suffer?

For over two decades, Boston-based satirist MAX BURBANK has used sketches, monologues, plays, novellas and essays to illustrate how comedy and cruelty go together like cookies and milk . . cold comfort food, yes; but comfort just the same. "Hello, Cruel World" features 9 sketches & monologues set in a world where murderous plots are hatched at the counter of Mr. Turkâs Muffin Hutch; post-9-11 executives get back to normal by reverting to their old Type-A selves; happily married straight men question their sexuality as recurring dreams of rough sex with Richard Dreyfuss begin to escalate; Cybernoir detectives wax poetic as their partners drop like flies; and Mary & Joseph scheme to scam the Wise Men after misplacing the Christ Child (they think maybe one of the animals ate him). Mean & nasty yet refreshingly hopeful & reassuring . . .

"Hello, Cruel World" puts the "Hell" back in "Hello" and the "You" back in "Cruel" (though you'd be spelling it wrong).

So sit back, relax and laugh--because itâs all happening to someone else. The 4-person cast is an All-Star roster of veteran NYC character actors and comics whoâve performed at venues including Surf Reality, Dixon Place, Luna Lounge, P.S. 122, HERE and The Kraine Theater. Their television credits include "Sex and the City," "Law & Order," "The Sopranos" and "Strangers With Candy." Longtime Burbank collaborator Scott Stiffler takes a breather from his day job as a freelance publicist to NYC's best underrepresented comics and theater groups to direct 7 classic Burbank shorts and 2 world-premiere pieces. Max & Scott first met in Boston as members of an Emerson College sketch troupe, then as touring improv performers and later as founders of the still-active Cambridge-based sketch troupe The Other White Meat; from whose 1992-1994 shows 7 "Cruel World" pieces are culled.

MEET THE CAST!

MICHELE CARLO has performed her character-based comedy at downtown venues such as Manhattan Theatre Source, Surf Reality, P.S. 122 and PSNBC @HERE as well as at uptown clubs such as Carolines on Broadway. Besides being the "mujer" behind downtownâs cult fave, "The Carmen Mofongo Show," Michele is author of the solo shows "The Search For My Inner Latina" and "My Red Bush & Other Stories." Currently, you can also see Michelle on the Metro Channel, in the indie short "Juan's American Dream" and in an upcoming TV pilot on The Oxygen Network. To see more of Michele's cult character Carmen Mofongo, visit http://www.carmenmofongo.com.

HANK FLYNN graduated with a BA in Theatre from New Paltz, moved to NYC and has been acting professionally ever since. You may recognize him from one of over 25 appearances on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," "Strangers With Candy," "Sex and the City" or "Toolz of the New School" . . .which he co-wrote, produced and starred in. He recently worked on the reading of a "Things That Hang From Trees" . . . a new screenplay with Joseph Siravo of "The Sopranos." In addition to being a comedic and character actor, Hank recently showed his dark side in the play "Maddy Far Away" at Surf Reality.

JENNIFER FLYNN, formerly known as Jennifer Clement and recently married to Hank, was host of HBO's "Chat Zone." Other television credits include "The Sopranos" and "The Education of Max Bickford" and a recurring role on "Buddy Faro." Mrs. Flynn, who was Jennifer Clement, recently completed a reading of the screenplay "Things That Hang From Trees" . . .with Joseph Siravo of "The Sopranos." Jennifer is also the voice for Kotex feminine hygiene. On a brighter note, BackStage.com called her "hilariously trashy."

BRUCE SMOLANOFF started his career at the age of 12, street-performing his eccentric dancing/magic act. At the age of 19, when the act was no longer cute nor cerebral enough, he switched his attention to the theater. Since then, he has appeared on "Third Watch," and "Law & Order." In his first-season role as Emil Kolar on "The Sopranos," Bruce secured his place in trivia history as the first character to "get whacked." Film work includes "Last Exit To Brooklyn" and "Mortal Thoughts." Theater work includes Actors Studio's tribute to Tennesse Williams (with Eli Wallach & Lois Smith) and the workshop production of his solo show "My New York" . . . directed by Stephen Lang. Bruce has appeared at Luna Lounge, Surf Reality, Dixon Place, HERE, Nuyurican Poets Cafe, Raw Space and Collective Unconscious.

MAX BURBANK (author) is a published Science Fiction Author, Award-Winning Web Satirist, Devoted Husband, Loving Father, Ambassador to Canada, Convicted Bunko Artist, Recovering Upholsterer and Freelance Moyel ($50 an hour, discreet billing, no kissing). His plays have been produced in Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis . . .including "The Library" (Crickett Theater, Minneapolis . . . winner of The New Playwrights Festival). His science fiction novellas "The Dink Transcendent" and "Mr. Tigg's Charge" were published in Tomorrow Magazine. Max currently writes for many web humor sites, including mcsweeneys.net, acidlogic.com and bullymag.com. In 2001, his "The Standardized are you Ready to Stalk William Shatner Test" . . . which was named Yahoo's Site of The Day for April 1, 2001.

SCOTT STIFFLER (director) aka publicist Scott Makin, moved from Boston to NYC in 1997 after performing the Burbank-penned solo show "Who Killed Johnny Sideways?" at Surf Reality. A few kind words from Surf proprietor Robert Prichard and his bags were packed. Back in Boston, Scott graduated from Emerson College and joined the improv troupe Guilty Children (to which Max already belonged). In 1992, he founded the still-active sketch troupe The Other White Meat. Once in NYC, Scott began to help underrepresented comedians and theatre troupes acquire press. He's currently in-house publicist for Horse Trade Theater Group and Surf Reality, writes features & reviews for Show Business Weekly and is NYC Comedy Editor for CitySearch.com. Visit http://www.ScottCon.com.