diff --git a/example.py b/example.py
index 3a2dc928b..846feba7f 100644
--- a/example.py
+++ b/example.py
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 from kafka.producer import SimpleProducer
 
 def produce_example(client):
-    producer = SimpleProducer(client, "my-topic")
-    producer.send_messages("test")
+    producer = SimpleProducer(client)
+    producer.send_messages("my-topic", "test")
 
 def consume_example(client):
     consumer = SimpleConsumer(client, "test-group", "my-topic")
diff --git a/kafka/__init__.py b/kafka/__init__.py
index 73aa7603c..1584c4792 100644
--- a/kafka/__init__.py
+++ b/kafka/__init__.py
@@ -9,13 +9,13 @@
 from kafka.protocol import (
     create_message, create_gzip_message, create_snappy_message
 )
-from kafka.producer import SimpleProducer, KeyedProducer
-from kafka.partitioner import RoundRobinPartitioner, HashedPartitioner
-from kafka.consumer import SimpleConsumer, MultiProcessConsumer
+from kafka.producer import ConsoleProducer, KeyedProducer, SimpleProducer
+from kafka.partitioner import HashedPartitioner, RoundRobinPartitioner
+from kafka.consumer import ConsoleConsumer, MultiProcessConsumer, SimpleConsumer
 
 __all__ = [
     'KafkaClient', 'KafkaConnection', 'SimpleProducer', 'KeyedProducer',
-    'RoundRobinPartitioner', 'HashedPartitioner', 'SimpleConsumer',
-    'MultiProcessConsumer', 'create_message', 'create_gzip_message',
-    'create_snappy_message'
+    'ConsoleProducer', 'RoundRobinPartitioner', 'HashedPartitioner',
+    'ConsoleConsumer', 'SimpleConsumer', 'MultiProcessConsumer',
+    'create_message', 'create_gzip_message', 'create_snappy_message'
 ]
diff --git a/kafka/_script_utils.py b/kafka/_script_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b784d151b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kafka/_script_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import logging
+from optparse import OptionParser, Option, OptionValueError
+
+from kafka import KafkaClient
+
+logging.basicConfig()
+
+# Add this attribute to easily check if the option is required
+Option.ATTRS.append("required")
+
+BROKER_OPTION = Option("-b", "--broker", dest="broker", required=True,
+                       help="Required: The address of a kafka broker")
+TOPIC_OPTION = Option("-t", "--topic", dest="topic", required=True,
+                      help="Required: The topic to consume from")
+
+def parse_options(*extra_options):
+    parser = OptionParser()
+    options = [BROKER_OPTION, TOPIC_OPTION] + list(extra_options)
+    parser.add_options(options)
+    (opts, args) = parser.parse_args()
+
+    missing = [o._long_opts[0] for o in options
+               if o.required and getattr(opts, o.dest) is None]
+    if missing:
+        parser.error("Missing required option(s) %s" % ", ".join(missing))
+
+    return opts
+
+def get_client(broker, client_id=KafkaClient.CLIENT_ID):
+    try:
+        (host, port) = broker.split(':')
+    except ValueError:
+        raise OptionValueError("Broker should be in the form 'host:port'")
+
+    return KafkaClient(host, int(port), client_id)
diff --git a/kafka/consumer.py b/kafka/consumer.py
index 28b53ec92..5658de2f2 100644
--- a/kafka/consumer.py
+++ b/kafka/consumer.py
@@ -674,3 +674,9 @@ def get_messages(self, count=1, block=True, timeout=10):
         self._auto_commit()
 
         return messages
+
+
+class ConsoleConsumer(SimpleConsumer):
+    def run(self):
+        for message in self:
+            print(message.message.value)
diff --git a/kafka/producer.py b/kafka/producer.py
index 12a293401..cf7b8003b 100644
--- a/kafka/producer.py
+++ b/kafka/producer.py
@@ -255,3 +255,13 @@ def send(self, topic, key, msg):
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return '<KeyedProducer batch=%s>' % self.async
+
+
+class ConsoleProducer(SimpleProducer):
+    def run(self, topic):
+        import readline
+        while True:
+            try:
+                self.send_messages(topic, raw_input())
+            except EOFError:
+                break
diff --git a/kafka/util.py b/kafka/util.py
index 54052fb03..16f0a6f19 100644
--- a/kafka/util.py
+++ b/kafka/util.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 import struct
 from threading import Thread, Event
+from time import sleep, time
 
 from kafka.common import BufferUnderflowError
 
@@ -114,3 +115,23 @@ def stop(self):
         self.active.set()
         self.thread.join(self.t + 1)
         self.timer = None
+
+DEFAULT_TOPIC_CREATION_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 30
+def ensure_topic_creation(client, topic,
+                          timeout=DEFAULT_TOPIC_CREATION_TIMEOUT_SECONDS):
+    if timeout is not None:
+        max_time = time() + timeout
+
+    while timeout is None or timeout > 0:
+        client.load_metadata_for_topics(topic)
+        if client.has_metadata_for_topic(topic):
+            return
+
+        if timeout is not None:
+            # If we have a timeout, reduce it to the appropriate value
+            timeout = max_time - time()
+
+        sleep(1)
+
+    raise RuntimeError("Unable to create topic %s" % topic)
+
diff --git a/scripts/kp_consumer b/scripts/kp_consumer
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..933b058d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/kp_consumer
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+from optparse import Option
+import sys
+
+from kafka import ConsoleConsumer
+from kafka._script_utils import parse_options, get_client
+
+GROUP_OPTION = Option("-g", "--group", dest="group", required=True,
+                      help="Required: The consumer group")
+CLIENT_ID = "kp_consumer"
+
+def main():
+    options = parse_options(GROUP_OPTION)
+    client = get_client(options.broker, CLIENT_ID)
+    consumer = ConsoleConsumer(client, options.group, options.topic,
+                               auto_commit=False)
+    try:
+        consumer.run()
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        consumer.stop()
+    finally:
+        client.close()
+    print("Done!")
+    return 0
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/scripts/kp_create_topic b/scripts/kp_create_topic
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..38cb268f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/kp_create_topic
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import sys
+
+from kafka.util import ensure_topic_creation
+from kafka._script_utils import parse_options, get_client
+
+CLIENT_ID = "kp_create_topic"
+
+def main():
+    options = parse_options()
+    client = get_client(options.broker, CLIENT_ID)
+    try:
+        print "Creating topic %s..." % options.topic
+        ensure_topic_creation(client, options.topic)
+    finally:
+        client.close()
+    print("Done!")
+    return 0
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/scripts/kp_producer b/scripts/kp_producer
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..1cfd8389c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/kp_producer
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import sys
+
+from kafka import ConsoleProducer
+from kafka._script_utils import parse_options, get_client
+
+CLIENT_ID = "kp_producer"
+
+def main():
+    options = parse_options()
+    client = get_client(options.broker, CLIENT_ID)
+    producer = ConsoleProducer(client)
+    try:
+        producer.run(options.topic)
+        producer.stop()
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        producer.stop()
+    finally:
+        client.close()
+    print("Done!")
+    return 0
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0869fee3e..1f9ca26c5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ def run(self):
     cmdclass={"test": Tox},
 
     packages=["kafka"],
+    scripts=["scripts/kp_consumer", "scripts/kp_producer", "scripts/kp_create_topic"],
 
     author="David Arthur",
     author_email="mumrah@gmail.com",
diff --git a/test/test_integration.py b/test/test_integration.py
index d0da523eb..5b317da72 100644
--- a/test/test_integration.py
+++ b/test/test_integration.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from kafka.common import *  # noqa
 from kafka.codec import has_gzip, has_snappy
 from kafka.consumer import MAX_FETCH_BUFFER_SIZE_BYTES
+from kafka.util import ensure_topic_creation
 from .fixtures import ZookeeperFixture, KafkaFixture
 
 
@@ -17,20 +18,6 @@ def random_string(l):
     return s
 
 
-def ensure_topic_creation(client, topic_name):
-    times = 0
-    while True:
-        times += 1
-        client.load_metadata_for_topics(topic_name)
-        if client.has_metadata_for_topic(topic_name):
-            break
-        print "Waiting for %s topic to be created" % topic_name
-        time.sleep(1)
-
-        if times > 30:
-            raise Exception("Unable to create topic %s" % topic_name)
-
-
 class KafkaTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         self.topic = "%s-%s" % (self.id()[self.id().rindex(".")+1:], random_string(10))