Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-12
W7IMWHAMS
ON HIS WAY
JokEsMITH is COMING TO LOS
ANGELES
HE'S THE PARENT OF THE CON-
vERsATIoNAL
Edwin Austin oliver Has Carried the
Yonkers Statesman's Fame All
Over the English Speak,
ing World

fourth annual convention of the American
Press Humorists in Los Angeles this week.
has written more jokes than any other
man in the history of the world. He adj
mits himself that he has written about
$4,000 jokes" He is the dean Of the joke
smith craft.
Mr.. Oliver is the Yonkers Statesman
man. Practically all of his jokes have
been unsigned, and the world at large
wots not of his identity.
To the men throughout the country who
make more or less of business of joke
writing Mr.. oliver is known as the father
of the conversational joke. Its progeny
has become innumerable, SO that the
Yonkers bachelor has more grandchildren,
great-grandchildren and so on than any
other man in history.
Many of his Jokes have been translated
into German, French, italian and other
tongues, not to mention the fact that they
have been republished in England, where
they always require a sort of semi-trans-
lation, because, being American, they are
not comprehensive to the British mind
And the conversational jokes written by
the thousand and one other jokesters upon
the original Oliver model, which was
neither patented nor copyrighted-well,
they reach into the millions.
What is the conversational joke? Per-
haps the term needs calculation, 1t being
technical expression of the trade. Here is
a sample of the conversational joke:
Smith-What would you do If you knew
positively that you were going to die
twenty-four hours from now?
Jones-Pd drop dead at once.
Annual Output $500
Infinite variations are possible to the
conversational joke. Sometimes the con-
versers are merely HE" and "She," or
hbcp nd
'Nobbs''; but now and then, since the
birth of the oliver original, other joke
writers have created certain characters.
using them again and again as the We
hicle through which to spring upon the
unsuspecting world any joke that lends
itself to the conversational form of ex-
preston.
Mr.. Oliver for many years has used
certain character couples which have be-
come household words. Notable among
these are ''Mr. Crimsonbeak" and Yeast"
Church and Gotham" and Patience"
and "Patrice"
1t would be difficult to find in the United
States person who has not read in some
newspaper a joke credited to the Yonkers
Statesman. Mr.. oliver is responsible for
all of these He has written from six to
ten jokes a day, six days a week. for
twenty nine years. with very little vaca-
ton His annual output averages $500
jokes.
Mr. Oliver does not resemble the funny
man of more or less popular tradition. He
shaves regularly and patronizes the hair
cutter at brief intervals. He dresses cor
rectly, not f1ashily.
When he attends the annual sessions OF
the American Press Humorists he takes
his trunk. At Baltimore three years ago
oliver had steamer trunk hauled to his
hotel. Strickland w. Gillian, then of the
Baltimore American, who wrote "Off
agin, on agin, gone agin, Finnigin," OBJ
served the porter carrying this baggage
and turned to the Yonkers man.
Joshes the Cub
OLIVER" he said. what in the world
did you bring that steamer trunk for?'
well" replied Oliver, they told me
that Baltimore was hot town. SO
thought I'd bring my steamer trunk and
let it do the steaming."
1t was at this same Baltimore meeting
that Mr.. Oliver was acknowledged as
the father of the conversational joke
Father oliver does not reveal his age
in plain figures. nor in looks. for he
appears to be about forty, but he has
confessed that he was lust of age"
when the conversational yoke was born,
and the files of the Yonkers Statesman
show that this yoke is now 20 years old.
At the Inside inn in ST. Louis during
the convention OF the humorists at the
worlds fair,S young man from the st.
Louis Star approached Mr.. Oliver, pad
and pencil poised menacingly
'Mr. oliver" said the reporter, IT
have been assigned to interview you.
Ah-uh-what do you consider your best
yoke|'
The author of 5000 yokes. who had
forgotten all of them but the one he
was then terminating, staggered slightly
under the impact of this query and
looked blankly at the form of the young
reporter. Then he replied, solemnly:
''You-yourself."
Pressed further. he asked the reporter:
.eWhere was Moses when the light
went out?'
"In the dark" replied the young man
promptly.
.Well. so am L." said oliver.
He consented to be interviewed few
days ago. however.
''How did you happen to become
Joke writer?" he was asked.
Poetry a Joke
.'When I was a very young boy" said
Mr.. oliver, my father got the western
fever and talked of moving to Kansas.
I was rejoiced at the idea and one day
dropped into poetry something like this;
away, away to Kansas
Then you see
Us dance the lanciers-
But not to Tennessee.
"That may not be epoch making poe
trv hut 1t made my father and all the
household laugh. My father locked the
stuff up In his desk, and 1t was shown
everybody who happened In
everybody who saw the doggerel
laughed. Soon after that I made up my
mind that my mission in life was to try
TO make people happy-to make them
laugh. That is why took up joke writ
ing-on the side.
II began newspaper joke writing in
1877. | was at the case learning the
trade of printer. 1 thought up the jokes
while going to and from the office and
at night. My first day I had fourteen
Jokes In the paper.
"Under my heading 'Whim Whams'
each day 1 have from six to ten jokes.
never use a typewriter. Typewriters
are nretty-some of them-but I have
M particular use for them except now
and then to talk to them when they
get lonesome.
Tai write my jokes with a steel pen.
hut I don't steal them My ideas seem
to flow more copiously with drop of
ink. often think up my Jokes in bed,
and in church, or at funerals-or just
M - .iooa write NV Jokes in the