Hit Man

Series
In The Dark
Original Broadcast Date
1994
Cast
Grace Zabriskie, Ryan Cutrona, Larry Block, Joe Frank
Format
Absurd Monologue, Scripted Actors, Improv Actors, 26 minutes
Preceded by:	The Cruise
Followed by:	A Natural Disaster
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"I'm basically enormously tired all the time, I'm not sleeping at night."

Hit Man is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series In The Dark. It was originally broadcast in 1994.

Synopsis

A woman (Grace Zabriskie) says that she is tired all the time, can't sleep at night, is terribly thirsty no matter how much water she drinks; asks what Joe thinks.

1:00: Joe, a hitman, tells us about his victims, how he kills them, how he insinuates himself into their and their families' lives, how he's a good family man, friend, and citizen.

7:00: Lex (Larry Block), his boss, calls to discuss Joe's latest hit: Raymond, a colleague who wants to get out of the business.

8:40: An annoying woman down the hall (they're in the hotel Mayflower), comes by to bum a cigarette and kvetch.

9:30: She and a man (Ryan Cutrona) (he isn't introduced) talk about jazz musicians and the 'Modern Joyce Quartet'.

10:40: The woman scat-sings to a piano.

11:40: Joe confronts Raymond (Ryan Cutrona); Raymond wants Joe to help. Joe recalls their meeting last week at O'Doul's. Joe coaches him on his acting: he's not tragic enough.

19:10: Joe laments the depths to which we must go to survive. Lex chimes in, then Larry starts talking about his life. Larry plays a patient at The Morchand Center for Clinical Competence.

24:50: Raymond and the woman are gone; Joe comments on the junk he sees in the street from his window. He wonders why anyone thinks s/he has a right to life.

Legacy Synopsis

A thirsty woman cannot sleep. Joe is hit-man who talks about past jobs. He is hired to kill his friend. A woman down the hall complains about her diabetic symptoms, talks about having been a jazz singer, and then sings in a hoarse, spastic voice. Joe coaches an actor in building a sad revelation and asks for a story about "someone younger." Larry Block talks about a financial problem, asks if he is being taped, then talks about playing a diabetic patient for a medical school training program. What is a right to life?

Music

This is an incomplete record of the music in this program. If you can add more information, please do.

• "Laughter Meditation" - Haruomi Hosono (from Medicine Compilation From The Quiet Lodge, 1993) | YouTube [0:51]

Additional credits

The original broadcast credits state: "[C]reated in collaboration with David Rapkin. The story editor was Farley Ziegler. Recorded and mixed by Jerry Summers. The performers were Joe Frank, Grace Zabriskie, Larry Block, and Ryan Cutrona. Special thanks to Jennifer Ferro."

Miscellanea

The background crowd sounds at O'Doul's can be found on the royalty free sound effect compilation "Crowds, Children, People Sound Effects" on the track titled "Crowd_bar-ambience Walla Background Talking".

The woman in the first segment has the symptoms of diabetes; the woman Joe meets in the hotel complains of diabetes; Larry tells of playing a diabetic patient.