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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1936)
4PS Ae iaiv jfll. n era n n Pl fi r . I il, a uj iq n ' Jimmy Durante, Famous Comedian of Stage and Screen, Here Tells You What Gets the Most Guffaws Fun Must Be Clean, He Declares .When stage "boob" gets familiar with a i society dowager on i lha atage, of courie the audience al ways roara By Carol Bird WHAT are aome of the things that' "hand people a laft" today? The "wlaecrack"? The rldloulous quip! The riaque gag? The humorous situation? On the other hand, la It possible that folks have turned laugh-proof In a wholly muddled world? The question was put to Jimmy Du rante, comedian, the tunny man with the big nose that has helped to make him famous. "People are more anxious to laugh than they've ever been before, bless their hearts," said Durante. "Goodness knows, they need aome laughs I How ever, Just because they are eager to have their risibilities tickled doesn't mean that they've grown . less critical than heretofore. A comedian has to have the right material or he won't make 'em loosen up and show that they're amused. I don't think the writers who furnish comedians with material have ever re ceived the proper credit. After all, a comedian la no funnier than his stuff. If his lines and business aren't clever, he Just won't get the laughs. "A good gag? Yea, It will get a laugh, bug to use It la like building a house of card!. At soon as you've used that gag, plop I It'a over, like a card home that has toppled. You've got to come quick with another, It'a Ilka keeping a chain letter going. "And a gag put an audience on the qui vlve. They expeot rapld-flre tunny stuff from then oa It Is like serving an appetiser. It Just tends to make the guesta hungrier tor more food. But the sltuatlon-gag la different. That la more satisfying. It laits a bit longer and lint forgotten so easily, either. Comparing a gag and a sltuatlon-gag Is like putting a canape beside a steak. The second la good, solid food. "Give you an example? Right. Here's one I had In a picture not so very long ago. I played the part of a man who was a pal to another carnival fellow. Tills chap had a new baby, but they wouldn't give It to him at the hospital iierauae he was In the carnival business and they dldnt think him a proper par ent to raise the kid. The baby was born In the hospital and Tracy, the car nival man, and I, his friend, sneak Into the place one night to steal the kid. The scene cuts away from us and showa a nurse making a date with a doctor on the atari, He says: 'Meet me la five minutes In such-and-such a room and wall arrange a time of meeting when we're off duly,' or something to that effect Meanwhile, Tracy has ar rived at the hospital to steal the baby. Ha stations me right Inside the room to stand guard and warn him of the ar rival of any one as he takes the baby out of the crib. Tin room Is dimly lighted. The nurse, In love with the doctor, comes Into the room, mistakes me, In the dim light, lor her sweellteait, flings her anna around my neck and kuuwj me again and again with great fervor. "I manage to disentangle myself from her entwining arms, pull myself up In dignantly and ask: 'Bay, what kind of a Mint la this?' That situation got the biggest laugh of any In the picture." DVJUNT then recalled another hu morous altuatlon in legitimate anew vfaleh "brought down the house " "I eome on the stage. In one scene, and announce that Al Jolson la 111 and I'm to take his place). Then t aw aaea th? number, I get down en one knee LAUGHS! From Jimmy Purante A UNHAPPY husband says, woefully, while complaining of his wife's treatment of him,. "She wants me to play second fiddle." His mother-in-law, overhearing the remark, says contemptuously: "Humph! Second fiddle, Indeed I wouldn't let you play in the orchestra at all." A. MAN, in a silk hat climbs out of a town car of a well-known and cheap make. He is going to enter a building, but before he does so he care fully places a blanket over the hood. A roughneck kid standing at the curb cries out, derisively: "Mister, you don't have to hide Ul I saw what It was!" A MAN goes limping , along the street. He meets a friend. The friend asks him the trouble, "My shoes are two sites too small,- he replies. "Well, why In blaxes don't you buy shoes that fit you?" The first man grows angry. "I've lost my money. My wife has left me. My sons have lost their jobs. The only pleasure I get out of life these days Is when I get home and take off these shoes." V'-- 'j"'?ln Jt' ...... .. : 'r-r l r' i w . , . a, MM! The world la laughing attain, says Jimmy Durante, atage, radio and screen comedian, but only clean Jokea go over. Audiences are not interested in salaciousncss, nor in jukes that point to the Infirmities of others, he aaya song, 'I know darn well I can do It on Broadway, but can Broadway do It on mil' That got the laughs In New York, but I don't know whether It would have gone over so big else where." All comedians are said to be psy ciiulDOisU. Durante proved this theory by his next observation: "I think that the comedian who is iwPA 111 One of the biggest laugha Durante evoked from an audience was when he carried a small houae ento a stage that had been piled high with wood of all dcacripliona and In all forma and sing his 'Mammy' song. T!u.s li thunderous applause. A voice which I supiwseU to belong to a well-known theatrical producer la overheard back stage saying: 'Bend both knees, Jimmy, and the Job Is yours for good ' That was a bit of good-natured kiduing of a popular comedian, and Broadvgy, know ing all his numbers and hi way ot ren dering them, couldn't heir but laugh. "There are. by the way, two distinct brands of humor: the kind that Broad way laughs al and (he kind that goes orar on the road. Broadway audiences Itute a cert f fraternity of their Yean aro, for example, I eang a 'js'.y.S sb'.iit'd, the underdog sort of (hap. who Is always getting the worst of It. has a better chance to get the lauglu than the wisecracking comedian who la always pulling a lot of smooth, slick, anappy lines. "People Identify themselves with the chap who hasnt the lucky star. They knew that life Is that was They're often been kicked In the seat of the trousers by Life's events themselves. So when a goofy, nnt-ao-ainart. slightly pathetic funny fellow la on the etace, doing a lot of foolhardy things, people laugh-not AT him but WITH him. They like him. They're tor bus. He amuses them, but they want him to get the best of the situation, too. They're on his side of the fence. "That's why people laugh at the come dian who plays the rr.ie of an unhappy husband and says woefully In one stage scene, while complaining of his wife's treatment of him: 'She wants me to play second Addle,' and his mother-in-law, ovorh.ep.rlng the remark, snorts contemptuously and says: 'Humph I Sec ond fiddle-, Indeed I I wouldn't let you play In the orchestra at all I ' "People are also amused by the down fall of the haughty. Just put a silk hat or, a man and let him act pompous, and then have him slip on a banana peel, or have something drop on his silk hat and crush It and you'll hear the audi ence howl with glee. It's the old Idea of 'Pride cometh before a fall,' and everybody likes the Idea of this se quence of events. arpAKE, for example, the stage spec- -- tacle of a. haughty society woman. 8he Is very snobbish and looks disdain fully and with a feeiing ot superiority upon her fellow human beings. She uses a lorgnette, and her gaze Is cold and haughty, in walks the comedian. His clotheu arc baggy. He is unkempt. He is a 'boob.' He's such a boob. In fact, Uiat he doesnt recognise this lady as his superior. He feels sociable and friendly. He approaches the queenly lady in her Immaculate attire and whacks her rhummlly on the back. He Brnsps her hand and pumis It up and down In chummy fashion. He gaics with puzzlement at her lorgnette and asks her what It Is. "All of this business mukti an audi ence roar with delight. It la Just too fumiy, tlila spectacle of contrast, this Idea of a hobo sort of fellow getting familiar with an Iceberg lady." The "beauty and the beast" motif Is also a laugh-getter, according to Durante, who explains It thus: "Just give an audience scene wherein a lovely looking girl la courted by the homely comedian. Moat comedians are supposed to be ugly loosing, you know, at any rate not handsome "hero' types. Have Die comedian so Insulated by un anareneai of his own shortcomings when It comes to looks that be will court ttila .WBJt til- ' ' N .... young beauty with no thought that she might turn him down. Tills situation occurred In a recent show In which I appeared. I had a scene with Hope Williams, in which I sing to her, 'Let's Call It a Day.' I warble on and on, with lovesick manner, 'Come, let's run away, fly with me.' The very suggestion that this charming lady. might favor me with even so much as a pleasant look is laughable. And so people laugh I "It Is the consummate ego ot a funny-looking fellow who doesn't seem to realize he's a Joke that amuses people. The combination of humor and pathos In the poor boob's make-up. For example, I remember one scene In a show where a guy suddenly, without provocation, walks up to me and ppkes me in the nose. I look at him in hurt surprise and ask: 'Why did you do that? Is U becaube I have curly hair? Because my teeth are pearly? Is that why you socked me?' "The audience laughs. The comedian is quite the opposite, of course. His hair Is straight, his teeth are NOT pearly. His blind vanity sets the audi ence off Into peals of laughter." IT IS Jimmy Durante's opinion that the risque comedy material Is dyna mite, unless it is very subtle and put over In extremely delicate fashion. "I think the cleaner the comedian la the mute ihance he has for getting over," said Durante. "Smut will surely drown him In the end. It all depends, of course, on how adroitly the material or situation Is broucht in or built up. I appeared In a number called 'Wood' some time ago. and one little occurrence In that brought down the house, in tact. It got a nne-mimite-and-a-half laugh. This sketch was one showing the uses to which wood csn b put. It waa a mixture of ridiculous situations. The stage, first of all, was plied with wood. Wood. Wood. Wood of every ImsgmabU kind, from slacks of tooth picks to huge piece of lumber. We carry hi more and more wood, of every shape and variety. Then very seriously we carry In a little wooden house, the kind made famous In that masterpiece, 'The Specialist.' There was no sign, no word, nothing on the little house, and we didn't even refer to It. It was Just there. But, somehow, the mere sight of It made people laugh. There really wasn't any vulgarity about the way the scene was handled." Durante again spoke of the scenes wherein dignified people are pulled down from a high place and why tiicy get the laughs. "People like to see 'high-hatters' razzed a bit," he said. And he paid a tribute here to the "red-hended brother" of the Marx Brothers, comedians. "He got plenty of laughs In a scene he had with some haughty society girls. He comes In and breezily holds converse with them, while all the time tin spoons are dropping out of his pockets, with a clatter, to the floor. "Every one likes to see a 'snooty guy' made to look like a sap. There is the funny scene In one show where a man In a silk hat climbs out of a town car of a well-known and cheap make. He Is going to enter a building, and before he does so he carefully places a blanket dver the hood. It Is a cold day and, of course, he doesn't want the engine to free sc. But the tender, careful gesture reminds one ot a mother covering up her baby or of some one concealing something of which he is ashamed. A roughneck kid standing at the curb makes this clear by a cute gag line He cries out derisively, In his high pitched little voice: "Mister, you don't have to hide it! I saw what it wasl'H The cruel quip, the Joke ahtch pokes fun at any ones infirmities, whether It be at gtutterlDl, palsy, deafness, lameness or so on, Just Isn't funny, according to Durante, and If coine r.lan wants to be successful he nvi not Include such material in hit repertoire. PAQK TWO
