Long Story Short

There is a bit in Colin Quinn's new one-man show, 'Long Story Short,' that sums up Quinn's view of the world, where he compares the global political climate to a bar at 3:30 in the morning. America is the loudmouth guy in a bad mood looking for a fight. North Korea is outside leaning on South Korea's car, waiting for them to come out. Iran is the scary guy everyone thinks is really drunk, but even scarier, he's sober.

This is the worldview of a guy who probably reads the newspaper in the early afternoon nursing a steady stream of pints at the pub. "I like to run the bigger picture of the world," Quinn told AOL TV. "Then of course, just being around bars so much, I guess it's the first thing I think about."

Quinn is no stranger to one-man shows. While he was the Weekend Update anchor on 'Saturday Night Live' in 1998, he drew great reviews for his 'Irish Wake,' something he hopes to revive if 'Long Story Short' does well on HBO (premieres Sat., April 9, 10PM ET).


It has a lot going for it: It's Quinn's best, most coherent work, taking a pessimistic view of most of recorded history, peppered with his more personal observations. It was also directed by Quinn's longtime friend, Jerry Seinfeld (he helmed the HBO version and the Broadway run). Plus, he mentions Snooki, which will always draw a few curious people these days.