Monteith and Rand were a comedy team who had their own Broadway show at the Booth Theater in 1979, produced by James Lipton, after a successful off-Broadway run.[1] "They are highly talented comedians, quick on their feet and resourceful," according to The New York Times. "They have an engaging, good‐natured charm which is useful for the thinner parts of their material. But they have more: An exuberance that leaps at bubbles and sometimes catches them; an instant, poetry of wit."[2]
"Monteith and Rand are funny," said The Washington Post in 1982. "They are usually very funny, even as they take risks in the Arena that haven't been seen since the days of Roman gladiators. This is a daredevil business, with death always in the balance, and it's exhilarating when they escape without a scratch."[3]
Suzanne Rand and John Monteith met in the early 1970s at The Proposition, a Boston improvisational theatre. Rand was working for TSecond City and Monteith had emerged from the Boston University scene. They developed their first act together in 1976, performing in Boston, Cape Cod and landing appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. They took their show to New York City, playing Off-Broadway and then Broadway in 1979. In 1982, they were slated to make a dramatic debut in Monte Merrick's A Hell of a Town but the production folded for lack of funds before opening.[4] [5] [6]
Suzanne was in the famed Second City company that included John Belushi and Brian Doyle Murray in Chicago, and John performed with John Candy, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner in Toronto. Rand was originally based in Boston but moved to New York, where Monteith lived, in 1982. They remained in New York City where they taught and performed.
John Monteith, who was born on 1 November 1948,[7] died on 16 January 2018 in Jersey City, New Jersey.[8]