Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, May 23, 1917 — John Shaqi
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, May 23, 1917Various
History
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, May 23, 1917
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
To whom do you think that letter is addressed? You would suppose to
some public personage with a reputation for cordial sympathy with the
young and earnest, such as the CHIEF SCOUT, for instance. But no, the
"Dear Sir" is in reality a limited liability company, one of whose
circulars, I suppose, wandered to the Gold Coast.
* * * * *
THE LAW COURTS THEATRE.
"ROMNEY'S RUM 'UN."
London was probably never richer in comic actors than at the present
moment, for not only is W.H. BERRY at the Adelphi, LESLIE HENSON at
the Gaiety, ARTHUR ROBERTS at the Oxford singing his old songs, and
ROBERT HALE and GEORGE ROBEY twice daily elsewhere, but in the Law
Courts Playhouse CHARLES DARLING has been lately at his very best.
Dropping in there last week, during the performance of a new
farce, entitled _Romney's Rum 'Un_, I was again fascinated by the
inexhaustible wit and allusive badinage of this great little comedian,
beside whose ready gagging GEORGE GRAVES himself is inarticulate. Had
not GEORGE ROBEY invented for application to himself the descriptive
phrase, "The Prime Minister of Mirth," it should be at once affixed to
the Law Courts' fun-maker; but, since it is too late to use that, let
us think of him as "The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Mirth."
CHARLES DARLING'S success is the more remarkable because he keeps so
still. He sits in his chair as steadily as another of his outdistanced
rivals, SAM MAYO ("The Immobile Comedian," as he is called), remains
standing. He has few gestures; he rarely, if ever, sings, and I have
never seen him dance; and yet the way in which he "gets over" is
astonishing. "Laughter holding both his sides" is the most constant
attendant of this theatre.
What is the secret? Well, first and foremost it is of course to be
sought in the genius of the actor himself; but contributory causes are
the acceptivity of the audience, which is more noticeable in the Law
Courts than in any other London theatre, and the willingness of his
fellow-performers to "feed" him, as stage-folk have it; that is to
say, provide him with materials upon which (again resorting to stage
language) he may "crack his wheezes." The other day, for example, that
excellent comedian, JOHN SIMON, was his principal ally in this way,
and nothing could have been better than the sympathy between the two
funny men. To CHARLES DARLING naturally fell the fat of the dialogue,
but no one enjoyed the treat more than JOHN SIMON, in whose dictionary
the word jealousy does not exist. LESLIE SCOTT also did his best to
"feed" his principal, and the results were a scream.
If the jokes were now and then a little legal, what did it matter?
Many of the audience were legal too, and that there is no better
audience the reports of the farces played here day after day
abundantly prove. They are out for fun, and therefore in an
appreciative and complaisant mood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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