After every Show, as soon as they Washed Up, they went and stood in
front of the Theater, so as to give the Hired Girls a Treat, or else
they stood around in the Sawdust and told their Fellow-Workers in the
Realm of Dramatic Art how they killed 'em in Decatur and had 'em
hollerin' in Lowell, Mass., and got every Hand in the House at St. Paul.
Occasionally they would put a Card in the Clipper, saying that they were
the Best in the Business, Bar None, and Good Dressers on and off the
Stage. Regards to Leonzo Brothers. Charley Diamond please write.
They didn't have to study no New Gags or work up no more Business,
becuz they had the Best Act on Earth to begin with. Lillian Russell was
jealous of them and they used to know Francis Wilson when he done a Song
and Dance.
They had a Scrap Book with a Clipping from a Paducah Paper, which said
that they were better than Nat Goodwin. When some Critic who had been
bought up by Rival Artists wrote that Zoroaster and Zendavesta ought to
be on an Ice Wagon instead of on the Stage, they would get out the Scrap
Book and read that Paducah Notice and be thankful that all Critics
wasn't Cheap Knockers and that there was one Paper Guy in the United
States that reckanized a Neat Turn when he seen it.
But Zoroaster and Zendavesta didn't know that the Dramatic Editor of
the Paducah Paper went to a Burgoo Picnic the Day the Actors came to
Town, and didn't get back until Midnight, so he wrote his Notice of the
Night Owls' performance from a Programme brought to him by the Head
Usher at the Opera House, who was also Galley Boy at the Office.
Zoroaster and Zendavesta played the same Sketch for Seventeen Years and
made only two important Changes in all that Time. During the Seventh
Season Zoroaster changed his Whiskers from Green to Blue. At the
beginning of the Fourteenth Year of the Act they bought a new Slap-Stick
and put a Card in the Clipper warning the Public to beware of Imitators.
[Illustration: ZENDAVESTA]
All during the Seventeen Years Zoroaster and Zendavesta continued to
walk Chesty and tell People how Good they were. They never could
Understand why the Public stood for Mansfield when it could get
Zoroaster and Zendavesta. The Property Man gave it as his Opinion that
Mansfield conned the Critics. Zendavesta said there was only one Critic
on the Square, and he was at Paducah.
When the Vodeville Craze came along Zoroaster and Zendavesta took their
Paducah Scrap Book over to a Manager, and he Booked them. Zoroaster
assured the Manager that Him and his Partner done a Refined Act,
suitable for Women and Children, with a strong Finish, which had been
the Talk of all Galveston. The Manager put them in between the Trained
Ponies and a Legit with a Bad Cold. When a Legit loses his Voice he
goes into Vodeville.
Zoroaster and Zendavesta came on very Cocky, and for the 7,800th Time
Zoroaster asked Zendavesta:
"Who wuz it I seen you comin' up the Street with?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account