Life — February 16, 1928 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Explanation for Modern Readers This page from *Life* magazine contains humorous wedding-related content. The top illustration shows two vaudeville performers juggling at what appears to be a theatrical wedding ceremony, satirizing the theatrical spectacle sometimes made of such events. The main text, "The Vaudeville Master of Ceremonies Officiates at a Wedding," is a comedic monologue by someone identified as "B. F. Syleester" (or similar). The master of ceremonies delivers absurd, rambling remarks at a wedding, making crude jokes and inappropriate comments typical of early 20th-century vaudeville humor—such as jokes about the groom's horsemanship and crude references to newlywed life. The scattered jokes below (like the "shortest distance between two points" riddle) are typical period humor filler. The satire mocks both vaudeville entertainment conventions and poor wedding etiquette.