THE AMERICAN SENSE OF HUMOUR

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 199, 16 May 1908, Page 11

THE AMERICAN SENSE OF HUMOUR

Mr. Harry Lauder, the well-known Sottish comedian, recently defined for "Daily Mail" readers, the American sense of humour, and, incidentally, disclosed the; secret of his own wonderful success.. In his newly concluded 'five weeks'' engagement in America, Mr. Lauder achieved a remarkable triumph, besides receiving the largest salary ever paid to any foreign artiste in tho United States. ,'/

To understand tho ' American sense of humour, three national traits, so it seems to me (says Mr.'Lauder), must always be borne in mind: (1) The American's "superior tone, (2) his strenuous life, and (3) his love of stern reality and facts. To begin with, the New Yorker thinks himsclf —with his wife, his kith and kin, everyono in any way connected with him, in fact— "a verra supee-rior pairson." And in many respects he, she, and they are. Remember that America is a country where everyone, high and low, is. taught to believe that ho is as good as the best: a country of wonderful resources, as Now York is a, city of wonderful Jmildings; a country where the average standard of living is far higher than it is over hero. The American, mako no mistake, is a "braw laddie" indeed. By the same token, he is quick, too—wonderfully quick—at picking up and digesting pawky wit and humour. Anyone who has seen an American tell a funny story, "till ye hold yV sides wi' lauchter," while all the time he keeps his face as solemn as a judge, and does not move a muscle, will know how capable he is of appreciating this kind of essentially Scottish drollery. But in spite of what I have just said, make no mistake. Because of tho three traits I have enumerated, tho American does not appreciate sarcasm or ridicule as we understand it. Why? (a) He is superior'to it; (b) he has no timo for it (c) ho wants reality and facts. In all his business relationships the American is stern, pointed, and complete. It is this spirit which dictates largely his appreciation of comedy and humour on the stage. This naturally brings up a second question, closely associated with the first: In what form must humour bo expressed in order to please an American audience? From a very close and entiroly personal observation of pooplo that I came across in Now York, both socially and among my audiences (who were, I found, by the by, made lip to a remarkable degree of independent units), tho American people do not want anything in the way of comedy—or, for that mattor, anything else—unless it is human, pointed, truo to life, and in tho strictest ■scuso roal. Failing these things, they would rather go without.