The sun., 1910-05-21
HTWOR Is THE WiKER SEES IT..
wallace Irwin Talks EntrrtainihEly Of the
Trade oT the Funny Wan.

a w and complete definition OF hunor
looks as seriously solemn a. he can.
-Humor he begins slowly. Is a com
hination ~ incungruo'E things designed
20 make laugh In the character oi
FalsiaT
/ But no this point evidently DISSATISFIED
with what he Is finding, he refuses o.
try a definition. Like poetry and like
laughter hr says. humor is thing that
cannot he formally defined II can be-
discussed only as regards some Il ~
attributes, its manifestations and effects
particularly the last
Humor Is vehicle for morality. q
vehicle for the moralist who has some
thing 10 say Thus Shaw IL so great a
humonst that it ~ hard, even for him
s"lf, to distinguish between philosophy
and joke Thus Tol~toy and Mark Twain
arr the greptest ~ their generation
Mark Twain. a humorist. had sympathy
and humanity primarily; he was a sage
i call q. Henry great humorist. He
Is 81 funny that you don't have 20 laugh
and up against a real, serious background
q It's a falhcy, a hig one. that the
b humonst ~ 4 slap dash. merry boy,
cracking Chauncey VI Depew jokes
/ What IL he' How does ho work
When and how do things seem funny to
him. AL the t.ule or only when he sits
down 40 his desk There il no limit IA
] questions, hut the humorist IL again
searching the ceiling q : II for revelation
i guess MS sort ~ knack- he az
I last Says illuminatingly. Generally when
| sit down % write ! have a perfectly
beautiful idea. OF several. floating around
IN my brain, hut hardly ever plan what
I'm going 10 do with them until ! get "a
work And then sometimes | cant pat
I them over. call myself an observer
and get a lot from observation. hut am
not consciously always on the lookout for
material
The other day | was sitting out IN
Z River-lde PARK with Jimmie tlagg
sometimes known a. James Mont gumery
| We were watching the psOple
Don't you get lots IT ideas Tor sketches
/ from crowds like this asked
! never think of. .,ketChs'. ho replied
- / think the observation b. largely
unconscious aud kept On tap until called
.
/ of verses on Atlantic City onr ~ a series
about summer plans I'm tp do for rh'
Saturday Ernirg pOst this summer
/ amt I'm -tira Il Wns the product oT oh-erva-
/ tion II yvas th. Togo tales Bot a BOT
. l. drawn from imagination
4 supuu-s huuurt-t y born with a
natural Uulrk in hl- mind that makes
! what he b. No one can ns iOrredly funny
and ba any good But doubt ii any ons
can tell lust how be- du#s Do Ats ,ly-
/ that when h. n logical hi- head b. clear
| b, does hi best work ~ ha terms iJ
] II 'Sho-tiuu for instance But / doubt
whether be- really Anuw- when b. dos
/ hi- ba.t. I'm not dead sur, any author Hau
f.H Nh.u hi- stuff l- ..ud Th" whole
pr.,a.-- D. NOR. pr Ia-- emotional That
b. duu1tl--- why me Huwug bowl enter
80 prominently Iutp url ltr-tfug- To b. tu
auuurnl. ,uuiI'iuu Of tur Imagination.
. Tier. o.. poetry 90 really gpud huw.r
Then th" author D. mot hru~'li con
sCipu- of the hImur n the funny thuug~ a.
be- prudu,-- tham''
10 everybody enjoyed my jokes a-
much a. my.st uOu'ai'.f~ the hlWur.
+ it, IA %" 'h" world. record tuuHv man
! nearly split uy -id'-- th' other laN Tor
. In,taur" over having Togo visit Niagara
Fall~ and Ihsu o. tu @ part ui 'N" u,yau
. NNHIINIlAh Nf.N. '.N 20 ''aaNI.''.'H .a.A .N. 70
. tremendously funny o. ur
Do YOU hnd your -'.n-' "i huWnr gen
orally coincide With the p4"L, -'
-S1W"tIm"~ n1l. D." answer sadly
3 that u J. ABLY a- b. i"--inlr
The golden mean "a ihi- huHthr~H 10
an elusive thing in INA. on can inaAr
% tou funny 'r Won Won . ~ c'h-idrf'Fl
seriously enough not a. an, YOU can
make 70 too serious ar vuu won b" con
zidered humorous enough bui Win ih"
humorst must u" tah"h lhr assumption
that he dOes not mean what De saw
Gs.-tt Burgess The fnriH" %" N"Ilh
not stand an anaiNNcal iF"all-'' Tor
medical review but 81 ilhls ~ MISSION.
And Their" O., gu"d o-M ih 'h" NaN
the material r. handled hlplug writes
melOdrama and the result - arr some
whom u not nam" 100 ihi- country
essay !" l"ii.N 'l ~ az ,,,' ~,
Is not art ~ wIth writing hum"r, nui
ther" rs no Ir'ipr. " -"inr'h'hs IN"
the case ui 10" p""l VINO -ulk- NIh
B natural M h"l hho"lHg Nha' HI"i'''e"
or daCtvl h..
Then. the interviewer asks. The good
I humori-t must be born With an innat"
gift. must possess a Keen power ot 90
1 Seryatlon which F Uses unrGnsolously.
must learn hoW 20 WORK with art and
must Do dbl" l' H"''' FN'i 'HilR "l la'
and work not on inspiration hqi a. Vlll''
Mr. irwin mods. y -u-m, b" saws
modestv Then he adds
4 must feel Cont"ntsd with the world
IN order "a produce" hr says We read
about the funny man who must write
his string of sld-splItting Jokes while
a. home in the cold. dark room hiS wIf"
lies diving Maybe some can
What kind of humor do the American
people want most, l. % sterrotyped
i,rtu they ike
Well I'm IN the trade and like 10 think
them discriminating bat sOmstlm"- I'm