In the two decades since his humor took center stage, Ives is now a playwright who dives into failed plays or musicals and fixes them, whether they're a stage version of the Irving Berlin film "White Christmas, " a French farce about marital mayhem from the early 1900s, or a work by a 17th-century French dramatist.

WSJ: Playwright David Ives finds his timing perfectly

These situations happen typically on stage, and are the essence of farce: a great Greek invention but apparently popular throughout Europe.

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He appeared in many films, most recently in British comedy film Cockneys versus Zombies, plus a cameo role in Run For Your Wife, based on Ray Cooney's 1980s stage farce.

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