Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-28

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Wilder: He has simply cashed in his
disabilities and worked his woes up
into fun" After a few minutes talk
with the merriest little man l ever
saw, the truth of the bit of Hubbard
ism was apparent.
Wilder takes his profession of fun
maker in ordinary to the world very
seriously, although a smile is always
just below the surface of the tiny man S
face.
When I went into the green room of
the Orpheum yesterday to talk with
Wilder one of the Piccolo midgets cas-
ually came in and with much effort
succeeded in getting his mail from the
rack.
whimsically, "he is so much smaller
than I am But the dwarf was not
so much timer after all.
"a vaudeville bill should be made up
with as much regard to detail as a
menu" said the entertainer of princes.
There is as much art required to
make up an acceptable vaudeville bill
as is needed by the actors them
Tells Funny Story
I'm the bill this week, follow three
talking acts. 1t is the same idea as
when you have eaten three orders of
roast beef, the fourth just kind of
palls a little" And with the latter
remark the grimace so expressive Of
disgust was made. After all if you
were to hear Wilder's talk from behind
a curtain, the force of many OF the
funniest stories would be utterly lost.
The facial expression is the most en-
ioyabe part of the entertainment
A- caiI "a doctor in hos
pital was talking to a patient. Poor
man. said he, you are very i'll Let
me feel your pulse. Oh, a very bad
pulse indeed. Let me see your tongue.
Oh, shocking bad is your tongue. Have
you any friends in this city"
No. replied the sick man. Poor
soul Well, have you any relatives
No. have no relatives Poor man
fear there is no hope for you "
The patient was feeling pretty good
until the doctor began his lugubrious
remarks and his spirits sank as mis-
condition was commented upon. Final
ly the physician asked: Is there any
thing you would like while you are
still alive Yes, answered the pa
tient, I should like a new doctor.
Audience Laughs With Wilder
That's the position of the people in
'front.'" said Wilder. When three or
four talking acts are given to them in
one night they begin to want new
DOCTOR"
The fear of boring his audience need
never bother the king of testers, how
ever. Myriads of monologue artists
have appeared at the Orpheum, but
the character of the laughs they got
was different from those which reward
ed the work of Wilder. One laughs at
the ordinary monologue man for he
acts foolish or has an odd make up,
but one laughs with Wilder.
No taint of Vulgarity mars his act
and his fun Is of the cleanest, most
wholesome nature.
In speaking of the difficulties of the
man who works without the accessories
of make up or scenery, Wilder said:
I'm playing in vaudeville, you have to
appeal to all parts of the house. If
you get laughs and applause from the
gallery and nothing but silence from
the orchestra, there is something wrong.
The reverse is just as true. You have
to make the gallery laugh as we'll as
the people in the downstairs seats.
Sees Humor in Everything
"I never know what 1 am going TO
do when I go on the stage" he con-
tinued. IT have no more idea what
stories / shall tell when l go on TINS
afternoon than 1 know what I was go
ing to say to you before 1 knew you
were coming.
ITO be successful in this profession,
one must be a close student of human
nature. The slightest trivialities which
would utterly escape the eye of most
people are fraught with humorous
meaning if you look at them from that
standpoint.
There is humor in almost everything
that happens. I rarely go down the
street that do not find material for a
quip that amuses the audiences
play to.
MANY people have the mistaken idea
that 1 am a humorist. / am not. George
Ade, Mark Twain and Josh Billings are
all humorists, but 1 am an entertainer
Beside the stories l tell 1 am a ven
triloquist and can amuse in many diff
ferent ways.
THE supreme idea in telling stories
of the kind 1 tell is to keep the point
buried until the psychological moment
for springing it and then flash it.
Talks MournfuIIy of Tragedian
"It is practically the same proposition
as one of these artists who draw pic
lures almost in a breath. The picture
looks like a meaningless copoIo,,,a,.