Comedic monologues from Shakespeare’s comedies
Speeches for auditions and class, timed from the exact text, each with a guide to every line.
The Offbook team
Oct 18, 2026
When a notice asks for a comedic monologue, it wants a lighter piece: a character in a fix the audience can enjoy, played with wit and timing. The speeches here come from comedies full of disguises, mistaken love, and plans that go further than anyone meant.
The comedy in a classical speech usually comes from the situation, not from jokes you have to sell. Each page explains every line in plain English, so you can find where the laugh is before you decide how to play it. For timing with a partner, read comedic timing for actors.
The monologues, shortest first
Listed here: speeches from plays that are comedies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and The Taming of the Shrew are all printed among the comedies in the First Folio of 1623. The label describes the play, not the speech, so a few of these are more thoughtful than funny. Speeches from the tragedies are on the dramatic monologues page.
| Monologue | Play | Lines | Run time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puck: “If we shadows have offended” (Puck’s epilogue) | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 16 | 36 seconds |
| Petruchio: “Thus have I politicly begun my reign” | The Taming of the Shrew | 24 | 1.4 minutes |
| Helena: “How happy some o’er other some can be!” | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 26 | 1.4 minutes |
| Viola: “I left no ring with her” | Twelfth Night | 25 | 1.4 minutes |
| Jaques: “All the world’s a stage” | As You Like It | 28 | 1.4 minutes |
| Titania: “These are the forgeries of jealousy” | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 37 | 1.8 minutes |
Run times are the words of each speech at a conversational 150 words a minute, before pauses, counted from the full text of public domain editions from Standard Ebooks. To time your own pace, paste a speech into the monologue timer.
How to choose one for an audition
- Start with the time limit in the casting notice. Pick a speech that runs a little under it at a natural pace, so you never have to rush the end.
- Choose a character you could be cast as now, close to your age and in a situation you understand.
- Look for a turn: a moment where the character changes their mind or makes a decision. A speech that only describes gives you nothing to play.
- Know who you are talking to. A speech aimed at another character, or straight at the audience, gives you someone to change.
- If the notice asks for two pieces, pair contrasting ones; see how to choose contrasting monologues. Need it shorter? Read how to cut a monologue.
About each speech
Puck: “If we shadows have offended” (Puck’s epilogue)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1 · Verse · about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute
Puck closes the play and asks the audience to forgive it as a dream. It is short, rhymed, and spoken straight to the house.
Petruchio: “Thus have I politicly begun my reign”
The Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Alone after he has called the supper burnt and thrown it at the servants, Petruchio tells the audience his plan: tame Katharina the way a falconer tames a hawk, with no food and no sleep, all while claiming it is done out of care for her. It ends by daring the house to suggest a better way, so it is played straight out to the audience.
Helena: “How happy some o’er other some can be!”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Helena, alone, complains that Demetrius loves Hermia, and decides to tell him about the lovers’ escape. It is rhymed and funny-sad, and a popular comic piece for women.
Viola: “I left no ring with her”
Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 2 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Viola realizes that Olivia has fallen for her disguise. It is a thinking-aloud soliloquy with a comic tangle at its heart, and one of the most-used classical pieces for women.
Jaques: “All the world’s a stage”
As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Jaques, a lord in exile with Duke Senior in the forest, picks up the Duke’s remark that the world is a theatre and walks through a man’s life in seven ages, from the crying infant to toothless old age. It is the most famous speech in a comedy, but it is wry and thoughtful rather than a joke, so it shows wit and control more than broad comedy.
Titania: “These are the forgeries of jealousy”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.8 minutes at 150 words a minute
Titania answers Oberon’s accusations: their quarrel has thrown the seasons out of order. It is a long, image-rich speech that needs strong breath control.
More monologue lists
- Shakespeare monologues
- Monologues for women
- Monologues for men
- Dramatic monologues
- Every monologue in the library, shortest first
- Acting scripts: scenes to practice with a partner
Questions actors ask
What is the shortest comedic monologue on this list?
Puck’s If we shadows have offended (Puck’s epilogue) (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1): 16 lines and 94 words, about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute. The longest is Titania’s These are the forgeries of jealousy (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1), about 1.8 minutes.
Which comedic monologues run a minute or less?
Puck’s If we shadows have offended (Puck’s epilogue) (about 36 seconds). Times are speech only, so add a few seconds for pauses and check the casting notice for its limit.
Does a comedic monologue have to be funny?
Not every line. A speech from a comedy can be sad, angry, or thoughtful: Viola’s “I left no ring with her” is a tangle of feelings, and Jaques’s “All the world’s a stage” ends on old age. What a comedic piece needs is a character with a real problem, played truthfully, so the audience can enjoy the situation.
Which edition is the text from?
The public domain Standard Ebooks edition of each play. Editions differ in small ways, such as spelling and line breaks, so if your production uses another edition, check your lines against it.
Keep reading
- Shakespeare Monologues: Full Text and Run TimesSpeeches from the tragedies and comedies, timed from the exact text, each with a line-by-line guide.
- Monologues for Men: Classical Speeches, TimedSpeeches by men characters, timed from the exact text, each with a guide to every line.
- Comedic Timing for Actors: How to Land a Joke in a SceneComedic timing in a scene is a two-person job. How to set up a joke, find the laugh word, pick up cues at speed, hold for a laugh without dropping the scene, and rehearse timing so it looks spontaneous.
- How to Cut a Monologue Down to Time (Without Losing the Story)Whether you are allowed to edit an audition monologue, what to cut first, and a worked before-and-after cut of a Shakespeare speech from 1:29 to under a minute at an average pace, with a timing check you can repeat on your own piece.