Something's funny Off-Broadway: eight comedies are opening between now and December. Spanning from the finery of Elizabethan England to the down-and-dirty 70s in New York, to today, with a sprinkle of Hollywood camp thrown in, there's something here guaranteed to tickle everyone's funnybone this fall.

THE COWARD
A period comedy set in 18th century England. A cowardly young gentleman named Lucidis initiates a pistol duel then finds that he can't go through with it. So he hires a common criminal to fight in his place, only to have the scoundrel make a bloody mess of things. As duel follows duel with many shots fired, this coward finds his reputation growing beyond his wildest expectations. By Nick Jones, directed by Sam Gold. LCT3 at The Duke on 42nd Street. Previews begin November 8, opens November 22.

	THE DIVINE SISTER An outrageous comic homage to nearly every Hollywood film involving nuns, THE DIVINE SISTER tells the story of St. Veronica’s indomitable Mother Superior (author Charles Busch) who is determined to build a new school for her Pittsburgh convent. Along the way, she has to deal with a young postulant who is experiencing “visions,” sexual hysteria among her nuns, a sensitive schoolboy in need of mentoring, a mysterious nun visiting from the Mother House in Berlin, and a former suitor intent on luring her away from her vows. Soho Playhouse. Previews begin September 12, opens September 22.
	IT MUST BE HIM In IT MUST BE HIM, Louie Wexler (Peter Scolari), a whiz kid comedy writer from the heyday of variety television, is now down on his luck. With his devoted agent (John Treacy Egan), and his considerably less devoted housekeeper (Liz Torres) by his side, Louie finds himself broke, lonely, and on the wrong side of middle age. Desperate to rekindle his fading career, save his posh Beverly Hills home and find the man of his dreams, Louie searches high and low for one last shot at his own real-life happy ending. Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Now in previews, opens September 1.
	THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE Roundabout's newest commission, Julia Cho's THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE, is a brilliant comedy about a man devoted to the study of language who struggles to find the right words to save his career... and his marriage. Drama Desk Award winner Mark Brokaw directs. Roundabout Theatre Company/The Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre/Laura Pels Theatre. Previews begin September 24, opens October 17.

MIDDLETOWN
From Pulitzer Prize-finalist Will Eno (THOM PAIN (based on nothing)), comes a deeply moving and funny new play, exploring the universe of a small American town. As a friendship develops between longtime resident John Dodge (Linus Roache) and new arrival Mary Swanson (Heather Burns), the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown intersect in strange and compelling ways. A powerful and poignant meditation on birth, death and points between, MIDDLETOWN is a remarkable new play from one of our finest young theatrical voices featuring Linus Roache (“RFK”, “Law & Order”), Heather Burns (“Miss Congeniality”, Marriage of Bette and Boo), Georgia Engel (“Mary Tyler Moore Show”, Drowsy Chaperone) and Emmy-winner Michael Park (“As the World Turns”). Vineyard Theatre. Previews begin October 13, opens November 3.

MISTAKES WERE MADE
Producer or politician? Is he defending his life or fighting to get one last project off the ground? Either way, MISTAKES WERE MADE finds Felix (Michael Shannon) completely oblivious to the world collapsing around him. The New York premiere of Craig Wright's comedy about a Broadway producer who gets in way over his head when he takes on the first world-premiere of his career. Barrow Street Theatre. Previews begin November 5, opens November 14.

ORLANDO Meet Virginia Woolf's ORLANDO, your typical Elizabethan Man: a favorite of the Queen, madly in love with a Russian Princess, fleeing an Archduchess and waking up one fine day in Constantinople to find he has become, of all things, a woman. She survives the 19th and 20th Centuries grappling with what it means to live fully in the present, in our own skin, in our own gender, and in our own time. Don't miss this classic masterpiece that has been called "the longest love letter in the history of the English Language." Classic Stage Company. Previews begin September 8, opens September 23.

THE SNEEZE Think you know Chekhov? Think again. THE SNEEZE, Michael Frayn’s richly comic adaptation of the incomparable Chekhov’s wild and witty vaudevillian vignettes, bounds across town and country, past rich and poor, with an improbable duel, a mismanaged marriage proposal, and, of course, a life-shattering sneeze along the way. This rollicking journey offers a different kind of “Chekhovian” world: one gone amok, awry, and askew—in all the best ways. The Pearl Theatre Company at New York City Center: Stage II. Previews begin September 17, opens September 26.