The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-09-20
JOE JsrvsRso,s rAIkA
IPhiladelphiA Tines.l

Philadelphia Tinss,l
 Ioseph Ief5erson sas in the drauing- room of thf beautiful residesce q Hohokus, \. T., recently, and expressed his views of tksarss, tAings thesfzical snd various other maftex&
 Comedy" said he, q is . very pleas- ant line of business Aadiences like to langh, and il is generally very easy b make them do 60. h fact, . comediAn's greatest annoyance is that his auditors will persist in thinking that everything he says or does is funny and in laughing al it Juss as scciesy used to laugh when the late Sydney Smith asked some ose to pass the mustard
 "in that scene of Rip Van Winkle in which poor Rip, affer returning irom his loug s1eep, reveals himself to his daugh- ter, Meenie, which, to my thinking, is in- descnbahly pathetic, have heard people laugh as though 1t vas the funniest thing this ill-simed mirth is not due 10 any in sensibilisy to the paahos of the situation. but to the fact that the peop.e who give vent to 1t, having come 10 see come dian. think that his every word and ac- ton must necessarily be funny and ,ha, it they do not laugh others around them will do 90, while they will Dc thought ignorant and stupid by reason of their silence.
 "A comedian should always derive his humor from the character he IS playing, and not from himself if his humcr IS developed from himself 1t is always the same if from his character Ii will alsays be in keeping with the spirit of each. Thus the humos oi Kip Van Wrinkle and ikA, of Caleb Hummer are widely differ eni, ye, n the hands of comedian who developed h,s own humor, and not that of his part both characters would be pre- sented in precisely the same aspect Of Dickens the best and the most lasting. IL will never lose it's ehan.. Like Shakes peare. he wrote for lltime. The ofsener you read him the funnieY he seems. He grows upon you. That last phrase, by the way. reminds me of a capital thing 1 heard once a, dinner party in London. Ii was during q rage for false hair among the ladies and one gentleman was speak ing 10 another of the hair of a fe- male friend. sShe has the most ex- quis,ie hair, bu, beautiful as i, seems when you first see Il. it grows upon you. An, sad the other, but does Il grow upon her. -
 .Ore of the moAt humorous burlesques ever sa~ was one produced in London, called Broken Hearts and Cracked | Heads The heroine of the piece was in love with the town pump, and when she implored ii ,o wear one of her rings as a pledge of affection the pump repled Put it up the spout For broadly ku- morous writers there is certainly no better field than burlesque, yet it IS form of entertainment which in this country seems entirely dead. The kind of burlesque which l mean-that which really does burlesque some serious production-hAs been oead for a number of years. but what old theatre -goer does not remember Stuart Robson's capital burlesque of Hamlet: or, The Wearing of the Black and his equally funny Black Eyed Susan or. The Little Bill That Go, Taken Cp?" This admirable style oi burlesque died out. hosever, and wis succeeded by meaningless ex,ravaganzas bnrlesquing nothing and serving merely to introduce pretty girls in handsome costumes, and songs and dances. ridieu- lous. grotesque acuons that might sugges, themselves 10 the performeSs This style of burlesque was 6rst msde pspulsT IF this country by Lydia Thompsoo, and for a long time it seemed ss though Amer can iheatre-koeSs would never tire of it but at length they did, and it Dow scent to have lost all attraction for them. A striking proof of this is afforded by the fact that during the pas, theatrical seassr there was not one such buriesque com. pany in existence here. Doubtless one reason of this is that the performance o the less objectionable French comic opeI.s which has become 90 general o late years, has taken the place of bur. lesque. lt has all the features that madl the latter aftraStive-beaufifui women broad fun, rapid action and rich, picfur. esque costumes, while the infinitely bette, quality of its music draws a class o
 patrons vho found nothing to inieres them in burlesque. IL is not mattei for regre, that this latter style Of bur. lesque is extinct.
 lone of the greatest needs of tho American stage at the present time il yOUDk. t8sSEtS0 M<ao otooA6vS WVA0S0- such women, for instance, as Mary An.
 derson and Annie Pixley. l shall nevel forget the first time ever saw the former It vas in one of the pariors of the F Iltl Avenue hotel. She had Juss returned from the theates on a cold winter night and as she came into the room, with hel eyes sparkling and her cheeks all aglow her beauty greatly heighsened by whiss
 pubiA thrown about her head, though
 Der the very embodiment ot womAnl, ioveliness and purity.
 Annie Pixiey first met while play ing in California was about so com men<e an engagemeas in San Frasciseo
 bu, vas not quite saaished with the lsdl
 who vas cast for Gretchen in Rip Var Winkle-s While was anxiousiy won dering whom could obtain to Eeplact her, chanced to see Miss pixley play | part in The Dznites and was at ooc< convinced that she possessed grea; ability engaged her. and while member O t-v re~v~u4nw &hp ulavn2 ars <xn1>