Judge — August 16, 1924 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE HOKUM OF JUDGE’S CRITIC by George Jean Nathan 'T SEEMS to me that this person I Nathan who writes the theatrical reviews for JuDGE is, to put it politely, something of a hypocrite and a faker. A close follower of his critical writings, I come to the con- clusion that he throws altogether too many stones for a fellow who lives in a glass house. For example, one of the things that he always derides, and with a rich amount of gusto, is the hokum in Broadway farces, comedies and musical shows, yet when it comes to such hokum, the fellow himself is just as guilty as the folks he makes mock of. Take, for instance, his frequent allusions to the hinter anatomy by way of getting alaugh. In the three years that he has been writing for Jupce, he has, by actual count, mentioned the human hinter anatomy 36,492 times, and this does not take into consid- eration 22,378 references to the hinter anatomy of cows, dogs, horses, mules, and free verse poets. His A S synonyms for the subject under dis- cussion number, up to and including the last issue of JupGe, 17,581, and he employs them for laughs on every possible occasion. One of the easiest ways in the world to get a laugh is to give a character a funny name. It is so easy a trick, indeed, that even the burlesque show impresarios have got tired of using it and have posted a schedule of fines for any comedian who tries to earn his salary by re- sorting to it. Yet Nathan swindles the editor of JupGe with it con- stantly. If he doesn’t rely for humor on some such name as Emil or Oswald, it is a safe bet that you will find him using something like Gustav or Hugo. Another of his hokum tricks is to use an Italian Christian name with an Irish surname or a Swedish baptismal name with a German family name. We thus find in his writings any number of such (Continued on page 25) Actzon Up! Acteon, the huntsman, hearing peals of silvery laughter, parted the bushes and beheld Diana and her attendant nymphs sporting unclothed in the pool. “Well, well!” he exclaimed delight- edly. “The De Mille company out on location!” IIS Whenever you think that you are very busy, just think of a giraffe up to his neck in work. FAH Young men ‘posing for collar ad- vertisements receive $100 per week for merely remaining rigid before the camera. A larger salary would probably turn their heads. A Little Discord. Mrs. Tif—I{ know where I can buy a lovely gown for a song. Mr. Tiff—If you expect me to fur- nish the notes, you'll have to change your tune! Proup Motner—We've named them all alphabetically—Alice, Basil, Charles, and now these two, Dorothy and Edward. Frienp—Splendid idea. But it occurs to me, what will you do if Z’s twins? 18 comicbooks.com