DIFFICULTIES OF COMEDIAN

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22252, 17 November 1937, Page 5

DIFFICULTIES OF COMEDIAN

+—_ ADDRESS TO ROTARY CLUB The job of making people laugh has not become any eesier sines comedians stopped dressing up in funny clothes, according to Mr George Doonan, comedian in the Montague Show, who spoke at the weekly luncheon of the Rotary Club, held yesterday at Bcath'stea*rooms. Mr Doonan had the Rotarians in fits of laughter throughout his : talk, and, in his less hilarious moments, he made some interesting ! comments on the difficulties of an entertainer. The v.'ce-precidcnt, Mr J. W. Graham, presided. Mr Doonan said he was of the third •generation to go on the stage, that both his parents had acted, and that he himself had been on the stage all his life :"It has its ups and downs," he said, "but I am glad to say that after a number of tough years caused by the depression and the introduction of talkies; variety show, players are now in thc : money. It is two years since things changed for the better, and I think that talkies have hit the legiti- { male stage hardest; The music hall,, vaudeville, and variety snow -will always live on." i Mr Doonan illustrated the variation in the response of audiences in parts of England with numbers of humorous stories. "Bradford is described by actors as I the comedian's graveyard," he said, "and, speaking generally, in the industrial centres of the north of England laughs are difficult to get. It is not that they, have no sense of humour; but they do not wear their hearts on their sleeves. The only difference between the typical New Zealand audience and a typical, good English audience is 15,000 miles," he concluded. A motion of thanks, moved by ROtarian S.~ Parr, was carried by acclamation.