Salt Lake Telegram | 1925-03-01 | Page 3 | History of Slap Stick Comedies Told in Book

of Slap SlapStick SlapStick Stick Comedies Told in Book eber feber and Fields Originators f Uproarious Comedies Give Fascinating Story of Their Rise to Fame FameI I By LOUIS W. W LARSEN Felix Isan Isis Is- Is Weber and Fields by man an is the history of slapstick comedy coined in American theatricals It is written around two aces of that o profession two uproariously funny f lows whose names give the book i s' s title Weber and Fields began their dr careers as entertainers about four ur decades ago They were two IL kids of the New Kew York Toik rY Ghetto who crawled out of ot their squalid slum hovels no and glimpsed I opportunity A canny business J sense nse agile lim limbs s. s and a a. flair for comedy medy med were the things they had hadI hadIn I In common Their rise to fame isI is I fascinating story stor spiced and highlighted highlighted high high- lighted to a a. queen queens queen's s taste by their friend and patron Felix Isman ThiS is book is a a. book of origins n d evolutions The first pie throwing throwing throw throw- i ing episode in theatrical annals was as enacted by Weber and Fields Field fas as was ws the first daring travesty on serious plays and the first success- success fW fJ character repartee before the II footlights Some of ot the rare quips and nd gags of these ingenious come come- dIana cHans are still being bandied on ontie onte tie te stage and are still good for a a. augh laugh what though they are dodd dod- dod d ring with age and only thinly disguised The bo boys s 's began as German comedians in east it side dime museums and won their ir wa way to triumph in the Broadway Broad Broad- way ay v variety theatres How they won Yon n their way makes an amusing and 1 inspiring story Weber and Fields bid id fair fall to bec becOme be- be c cOme me as immortal as Tom Jones jand and Huckleberry Finn The narrative narrative nar nar- rathe of their exploits in the long of or striving though far from being fiction Is as racy of ot American American Ameri Amen can life lite In the realm of theatricals of as as' as is ig some of the best of af Twain in his dr dramatization of the Mississippi ls- ls sippi valley Their junketing took them all the way across the con con- 6 ment found them stranded in inI ithe Ite t e Pacific Northwest North marooned tn In the wake of ot ruinous circus ventures ventures ven yen tures triumphant In Boston o or re repulsed rep re- re I pulsed p In Chicago by an audience hat could not at first ge the hang of this new species of entertainment entertain entertain- ment This book is more tha thad the C chronicle ronicle of Weber and Fields Fields In in- in fInitely more The devious paths of or these clever comedians cut and I crosscut the paths of or nearly every 5 age ge star who has been before ie e footlights in the past four dac- dac I dac-I es There are woven into hito the narrative epIsodes touching the ca carpers ca- ca ers ens of scores of entertainers They i a achie ed the almost impossible feat feato o 0 staging all star shows It was not ot uncommon for the Weber- Weber to divert Broadway with Us lIs that flaunted not one he headier head head- d- d ier ner nero but six sK or seven How they Id d for the of such fa- fa riles rites as Lillian Russell and Dad Dad Da- Da d Warfield driving hard bargains a d showing their gameness In the e d 4 b ly signing them at fabulous r salaries at a time when the WenField We We- 1 Field ber-Field Field exchequer was pitifully k e pt pty all all this is charming remi- remi and it makes capita readIng read- read Ing g. g Any person who is human enough to 0 admit the vein of nonsense hidden hidI hid hid- din den his substrata will read this I I book with a keen relish In both substance and style the book is immense There is not a salacious line Ine in its odd pages What What- eier eer jer bubbled up from these inexhaustible inexhaustible inex inex- wells of mirth was both sparkling and clean Liver Live- Live r New Kew York