The Washington herald., 1911-01-15
WORLDS GREATEST
JOKER FOOLED AN
ENTIRE CITY

For the life of me I can never under
stand why some people. many people,
the majority Of people. in fact will per-
sist in huggins the notion that the exist
ence of a comedian is nothing more or
less than one merry and continual round
of mirth and laughter. 'Mrth and
laughter forsoo.h, Never was there a
more erroneous idea than this. Why.
l sometimes wonder how it is that come
dians can ever raise a smile at all on
their faces, to say nothing of the effect
they hope to exercise on the features OF
others. so serious and strenuous is their
life
Still. there it is, Those who have no
experience at all of the behind-the-sc scenes
side of comedians profession should.
perhaps. he excused for cherishing this
notion, as they only see the so-called
laughter-n,aker' at business. where, il
he does not succeed in raising a smile on
the faces of his audience, he will not
remain long. Presumably. therefore. he
is more or less successful in his object
otherwise he would not be seen at all.
But seriously. the trials and troubles
Of comedian are very very real Only
a few weeks ago. when playing in a
sketch at night, and rehearsnS all day.
received An invitation to sup at a fash
ionable restaurant after my evenings
show was over. To my sorrow. / ac-
cepted. Why to my sorrow? Well. be
cause the moment / had located myself
on a chair at my hostess's side. she
turned round to me and said. Now do
make us laugh. Mr.. Graves. My daugh-
ters and II must tell you that she had
three very plain daughters with her. who
gazed at me expectantly-"have been
suffering from terribl. depression all day.
We look 20 you to remove this gloom
Now. then''-and the kindly soul tapred
me playfully on the wrist with fan-"bs
funny at once" put it to you. could any
one be funny in such circumstances?
His Lot to Be PitIed.
All. me. yes; the comedian is indeed to
be pitied- A distant relation of mine,
passed away some months ago. and it
fell to my lot to have to go with the OBJ
Ject of trying to comfort his sorrowing
widow. a job of this kind is always rather
a thankless one: in fact, one is wise to
say as little possible. Still. I did my
best: and in the presence of her two sons,
aged fourteen and fifteen. and ono
daughter. aged seventeen. I muttered
words of comfort, pointing out that this
was trying old world and that the dear
fellow would certainly be happier in the
next. and so on and so forth. To bs
quite frank. I thought 1 was doing the
job really we'll. until, as 1 left the room,
l heard one of the boys say to his sister.
SO that's cousin George. is it, He
doesn't make me laugh; he's never said
a funny thing since he's been in the
house. 1 wonder who pays him his SAL
ary:''
In pantomime especially is the lot Of
hard one. He is supposed to
be funny and to deal in humor particu-
larly suited to the childish mind, and yet
almost equally as well suited to the sense
of the ridiculous OF the adult. Now. that
Is not an easy task. is it? Would they
expect to make their best friends little
boy laugh with the same brand of joke
that they hand Out to an adult? I think
not. and probably. if they tried. their
friends little boys mother would ask
them to be more careful in future as to
how they spoke 10 children.
Earns His Pay.
Oh. yes there's no doubt about 1t at
all. A comedian is man to be pitiedf
and to be sympathized with. for he's ex-
oected to be equal to every emergency and
% deal in fve-pronSed jokes-that is to
say, jokes that will appeal alike to the
'oung, the old the r1iddle-aged, the seri-
Jus, and the frivolous
BY no means the least Of a mirth-pro-
'oker's woes is that very often he either
las to juggle with the sense of the humor
u the author of whatever piece he NAV
'e playing in. or offend that worthy
for life. Frequently, of the
wo evils the latter would most assureily
re the lesser. for authors. like other mere
nortals. are ?ot infalEble and sometimes
heir notion of the ridiculous would not
ven make an ,Indertakers assistant
auGh Hence. indirectly. they are doing
o the comedian whc has to deal in their
'ood goods what the immortal Shakes
eare would doubtless have described as
a dirty trick" STILL there it is; tho
omedian is forced to plow his sad,
erious way through life-a much-misun-
erstood. much-tO-be-pitied man.
He has his compenSations of course.
lis salary. perhaps you will say Well.
elieve me. he thoroughly earns that.
lis chief compensations. ! think, lies in
he fact that if he does succeed in making
eople laugh your comic" can pat him.
elf on the back and say. Anyway, I've
one something to cheer up the lives OF
eOple who have real careS-Tve helped
hem in some slight measure, at any rate,
D make them forget their troubles for a
hort time"