GAPPING CARNIVALS

Evening Star, Issue 18021, 15 July 1922, Page 11

GAPPING CARNIVALS

[Written by F. A. Du La Maub for the ‘Evening Star.’]

Up from bin cosy bed the student shoots, Clad in a toga and a pair of boots. He who can dissect a joke is as little likely to meet with democratic appreciation ns ono who is able to resurrect a gome of chess. Yet it may well bo doubted whether any of our really funny papers could carry on for a month unless the sources of humor had been more or less scientifically considered and the results tabulated. The output of * Punch- ’ is not greatly dependent upon the digestion nor upon the private afflictions of the members of its staff. It is dependent to a very groat extent upon the fact that, from the editor to the office boy, it is recognised that humorous effect is produced by placing the accustomed thing in the unaccustomed position. Even a modern student may appear solemn and dignified in the “toga virilis.” What is the magic of "a pair of boots’’? It is the same old trick. Place a Cardinal’s hat on a chimpanzee or on a theological personage more august than a Pope (say a Presbyterian moderator); even arrange the Cardinal's hat at a rakish angle—the effect is the same. This is the first stage. The effect Is produced by one simple and l somewhat crude application of the rule that the accustomed thing Is placed in on unaccustomed position. Wnen 1 Punch ' during the war published its page of cartoons of politicians dressed in khaki it carried the process several stages further. Instead of one familiar and accustomed thing, you had at least two —you had) the politician and khaki. You had more. You had) two sets of things—a series of politicians and a series of grades of khaki. So Private Asquith saluting his superior officer, Mr Lloyd George, made a pretty picture. The interplay of Army and politics had 1 a further complication. The personal appearance and characteristic of the individual were exploited, tho accustomed solemnity appearing under unaccustomed conditions. The effect was multiplied) with each wellknown face as it projected! out of its new setting. It was ono of ‘Punch’s’ best cartoons. Yet it was a very simple and obvious device, It is reproduced every day, and it dblights us at every turn—if it can only be effected with surprise. Put the members of the Dunedin City Council into football jerseys, and it will go hard if some of tho figures do not provoke a smile. Now, this is a very suggestive train of thought, and one which is peculiarly available to tho university student. He has a conventional dress, a conventional setting. At carnival he is bound by the most free-and-easy of conventions. It is suggested) that by recognising and utilising this Hist principle of humor, by applying it through the medium of capping songs, an easy and effective instrument is in the hands of any who care to 'use it. It is even suggested, with deference, that, with the literary talent available at a university, the instrument is the easiest and most effective. With this knowledge concerning the manufacture of humor clearly in our minds, we are in a position to contrive expedients for our purpose. It has been noted that in its simplest form the process, though it may be effective, tends to crudity. How can we get tire complex effect? The most illuminating answer I can give may be expressed in the words “general idea.” A general idea fixes a point of view. The sceptic may be referred again to the idea of “ duty ” in ‘The Pirates of Penzance.’ It irradiates the opera almost as “ Old Mel ” irradiates ‘ Evan Harrington. ’ It is dished jjp at every meal. It has a curious magic. Apply, as ‘ Punch ’ did the idea of military discipline to politicians, the idea of political procedure to the Army—apply the ideas of an ancient or alien civilisation to our own times—and you have established a whole series of dramatic possibilities. Whatever happens you have your first step taken. We’ll begin with poor old Gracchus, Who, no devotee of Bacchus,

Introduced a Roman Budget and l was murdered by the Lords. The idea at its best is philosophic and simple, for humor is at basis philosophic and exploits truth at some angle. It ought not to be beyond the ingenuity of a university college to find an idea appropriate to any set of tableaux which ia suggested for the year.

It will be observed that illustrations of the theory of humor derived from comic papers are subject to tho limitations of pen and ink. When a Roman praetor or prehistoric chancellor steps on tho scene his universe of discussion, so to speak, is quite unlimited. He is given a new and appreciative audience, a wealth of local color, and his discussion of new themes in old settings is apt to be very diverting. It forms a cross-current with the general idea in the manufacture of humor. The students are a troublesome lot, Who’ll end in jug as like as not; And when I speak they’re not polite, Hurling great chunks' of Dolomite. They hunt all day and drink all night, Do all that’s wrong and nought that’s right; Sing rowdy songs with all their might, And in strange noises take delight. . Which is exasperating for An antediluvian Chancellor. Tho application of some general notion or special point of view may, of course, be used in one song as well as in a series. The university, looked at as a “memory from abroad,’’ has many attractive features, though the more personal allusions, often the more amusing at the time, lose their favor when tho generation has passed. And I wonder as I ponder if I’ll e’er come back, Where tho strollers act as rollers on the stony track. Arizona doesn’t own a place I so respect j Alma Mater, incubator of the intellect.. One is reminded that the same kind of eSect is produced by a Latin song which makes pointed modern illusions. Canterbury College used to indulge in humor of this type, but for good or ill the old classic school of England, as reproduced in Now Zealand, does not run to many essays in topical Latin verso. Perhaps no article should be written on capping songs which does not say something of war as reflected in tho capping songs. I am tempted to quote from a song of tho Peace Society of Ancient Briton. Our influence spreads for and wide, And even o’er the Styx’s side; For all the dead are on our side, And they’re the great majority. It’s also rather strong with those Who constitute our country’s foes; And they should tell, for heaven knows, They speak with some authority. The most effective of the more serious efforts to enshrine the war in our university songs comes from Victoria College. It is a good specimen of the work of Mr Eichelbaurn, who, by virtue of his productivity combined with high and uniform standard, stands alone in New Zealand. Not a troopship rides on tho guarded tides, To the war-worn lands without them. You will find them there, 1 where the star-shells flare, And the smoke rolls thick about them In the deathless charge up the galley's 'marge, Where the echoes roll In thunder, There tho green and gold may be torn and holed, But it’s never down and under. I have long exceeded my allotted space. In a rough and ready way my first article was intended to deal with the capping song. It was contended that this literary form belongs peculiarly to, the genius of the carnival, and should not be discarded. It was recognised, however, that with the great increase in numbers the more personal touch of university students had imposed limitations which, aided by either causes, had resulted in a disuse, or, at least, a decline of the capping song. My 1

next attempt was to suggest a development of the capping song in the form of musical extravaganza. Under modern conditions the capping eong must suffer eclipse or become something ■ much more important than it was in old dap. In this_ article I have, within narrow limits, discussed the machinery which I have suggested for use. It may be thought by some that -the matter is taken far too 6orioualy._ My answer is that, in its own way, the literature of capping carnivals was, and should have, a niche in the literary Pantheon. It is a thing worth doing to produce a good song; it is better to produce a good extravaganza. Wit and humor, literary form and expression are given very extensive opportunities. The opportunity is given to men and women who should be well equipped to avail themselves of it. At any rate, the work has to be done, and there is a chance of development in a diredtion which may produce better literature. These articles began with a reference to the Chancellor. Sir Robert Stout, as I think, is not without fault in the attitude he has adopted—an attitude which has estranged him from the capping carnivals of these later years. 'lt would be idle, however, to imagine that the fault is all on the one side. If Sir Robert has been rigid, ho has too often been met with rudeness and stupidity. I hope that the time will come, before the Chancellor retires or the New Zealand University is abolished, when the Chancellor will again take his old place, and be welcomed hy the students in such manner as his long and dovoted service and his high personal qualities so richly deserve.