The Washington herald., 1916-12-26
Subtleties Of Humor
BY JOHN d. BARRY.

One OF the most skillful editors of
humorous material that know Of often
complains Of the difficulties Of his work.
From mass of stories he selects one
that seems to him particularly good.
Then he tries It on this friend and that;
one laughs uproariously; another whom
he considers keenly appreciative Of hu-
NOR receives 1t with a blank expression
and says: II can't see anything funny
about that" OF course, that editor is
Handicapped. The knowledge of his
friends that jokes are being tried on
them Is likely to put them in the wrong
frame OF mind, judicial rather than sym
pathetic, somewhat like the state we all
fall into when we meet those people
who, as we know. from experience, ex-
pect US to laugh. Finally, of course. the
editor has to rely on his own Judgment,
and often the jokes that receive the most
applause from the public and most COM
pliments in the way of quotation In the
newspapers are those that, privately.
have been the greatest failures So In q
double sense humor Is a ticklish thing.
We all pride ourselves on our sense Of
humor and We know people who have no
sense Of humor, and we pity them be-
ca use they don't realize their lack. They
not only fail to laugh at jokes which for
years have delighted US and which We
have told with enormous success to all
KINDS OF people, but they are continually
telling US the most tiresome stories,
without a ray Of humor in them. But
why is It that, like the Jokes of my edi-
tor friend. some OF our stories achieve
success in one company and not in an
other? is the fault wholly in the listen
ers? Sometimes, yes; through lack Of
alertness. But not always. Often It Is
because we haven't established the easy
and sympathetic relation with our list
eners that is so important We haven't
reached the point that actors reach in a
play. when the audience has settled down
comfortably to an interest in the story
and Its people. Frequently the trouble
comes from our own lack Of confidence.
Every audience is different from every
other audience and every audience does
q large part Of the work that seems to
be done on the stage or on the platform;
some lines that would go with one au-
dience will fail with another; some lines
that have apparently no humor in them
contain some subtle association in the
minds OF the audience that will make
them humorous. There is one thing that
will always please the audience, and an
audience Of all social grades, that Is a
little touch OF profanity. Too much would
shock and pain; q little surprises and
delights. As a matter of fact, we all
love the unexpected violation OF the con-
ventions So We can't help laughing, in
spite of the tragedy involved in the re-
mark. when We hear that Lincoln on
the morning OF his wedding, when some
one asked him where he was going, re-
piled, ITO hell, I guess" It is said that
the late Richard Mansfield, who, in spite
Of his testiness. loved a joke, was walk
ing one day in a small Western city,
when he met q small boy who was so
struck by the magnihcence or his ap-
pearance, that he fell back and ex-
claimed, God" Mr.. Mansfield smiled
and said pleasantly: You are the first
person that has recognized me-"
Most literary people are familiar with
the story Of the lady who asked James
Whitcomb Riley II it were true that he
received 25 cents for every word he
wrote. Yes. madam" he replied, 1T is
true. But there are some days when i
can't think of a damn word"
All unexpectedness II sufficiently start
ling and upsetting to our ideas. is apt to
have something humorous in It. 1 re-
member how astonished 1 was the first
time I ever used the telephone in Eng
land. to hear, instead of hello" ARE
you there?'
George Ade was very pleased the first
time he heard the expression. Afterward
he remarked: IF you were to say no,
further conversation would be impossi-
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