12 Mins.; One. Fred M. Griffith has evidently been playing in vaudeville for a long while, but has not been in New York in some time. He does magic, all palming, his best handling eight little red balls, holding them at one time in both hands. It is very good work, also the continual rolling of one of the balls between four fingers. Some trick matter with a handkerchief brings a little laugh. Griffith depends to a large extent upon his talk, nothing wildly funny, but humorous enough in a quiet way. His finish is the old business of informing something in the audience his future wife’s name. It was seemingly new to the Columbia audience Sunday.
13 Mins.; Three. A new “girl act” with but four choristers, making the quintet look rather skimpy for a number of its kind. The turn is dressed exceedingly well, with the girls having three changes, all good looking, the final one being a military costume, during which Miss Hyde does her Russian dance. This is the best in the turn and largely aided in getting it over. Miss Hyde was always a better dancer than anything else. She was formerly of Victor and Nettie Hyde. Now she is singing four or five published rags (doing a double version with one with the self-carried office orchestra leader). An English coaster number, in costume, is done by the four chorus girls. Miss Hyde’s enunciation is quite faulty, and naturally interferes with the lyrics getting over. The turn will do in certain of small-time houses.
12 Mins.; One. Ball players of renown, Mike Donlin and Marty McHale, in their double turn for this season, are showing a very entertaining vaudeville act, considered aside from their reps on the diamond. Of the dialog, it mostly “puns” either Donlin of the Giants or McHale of the Yankees. In this way laughs are secured. McHale sings two solos, with the men opening with a well-written conversational number. The singer has a pleasing voice, a lyric tenor almost, and handles it very well. He got over an Irish number easily, and did unusually well with “It’s a Long, Long Way from Home,” following it. The principal line of this song was again used, when Mike in a recitation got his man around the third base, McHale breaking in there to again sing “It’s a long, long way from home.” Both players wear evening clothes. Mr. Donlin has greatly improved as a vaudevillian. He slips over dialog like a veteran. Mr. McHale needs to get a big more easy in bearing, but this will come with a few appearances. The two work well together. They now need an encore, when Mike should do (and kid himself about) his famous dancing. The act with the names is a good one for big time. They cover in their popularity all cities of the major leagues, and with “the act” to hold them up, make desirable booking.
8 Mins.; Full Stage. Three women and four men, all Russian dancers, open in the usual picturesque costume, playing string instruments while bunched together for a “sight.” Later they dance, with one of the men featured for this portion the girls dance also to the customary fast closing routine. Not a bad act of its sort.
11 Mins.; One. A young girl and man, the former playing the violin, also acting as straight for her partner’s foolishness. That consists of a James J. Morton-Frank Tinney-Harry Fox routine that shows a nice discrimination by this budding comedian. The “copy stuff” seemed to do at the Columbia Sunday afternoon. The girl plays fairly, but looks really well. No visible reason why she should use the violin at all in this act, excepting it sends the young copyist off the stage now and then to permit her to do so. The point of merit about the turn for consideration is that it has new jokes, or at least not any heard on the strange to date. That is something, really a great deal, and it might induce the man of the team to evidence originality as well in other directions.
15 Mins.; Two (Special Drop). Two views could be taken of the Four Rubes, a comedy quartet. It would depend where they were seen and in a way, exemplify the difference between big time and the smaller small time. The views might run like these:
Small Time. The four Rubes could be called the Rube Ministrels, and it is a minstrel idea, fashioned somehow after the Crane Brothers and Belmont turn. Each of the men is in eccentric rural dress and make-up, going in somewhat for rough comedy, having plenty of jokes, and singing during the turn, which concludes with one of the men yodeling that gets over very big, earning an easy encore. The comedy talk and the characters will please in certain of the smaller houses.
Big Time: The Four Rubes got an idea and then ranaway from it. It’s a rube quartet with “gags,” some of the oldest and the poorest that could be gotten for nothing. When the act thins down at any time and a laugh is needed, slapstick is indulged in by one of the farmerish men jumping at another’s throat. All are grotesquely made up, have little natural humor, sing badly in the barber – shop way, and the finish, a yodel, sounds like a weak imitation of a steam calliope. For big time the turn never had a chance. There is a big time act known as The Three Rubes.
12 Mins.; Full Stage (Library). A farcical playlet with mistaken identity for the foundation. When you can get four people at a limited price, too much is not to be looked for, and if you don’t look for too much in this “farce,” you won’t be disappointed, either in the playlet or the players. Otherwise it’s a bad boy.
16 Mins.; Full Stage. A three-man musical turn that leans strongly to brass and has comedy. A fat boy in an Eaton jacket leads in the comedy. He is assisted by a straight and a Scottish Highlander. The trio runs through a routine of playing that wins applause. Very good musical act for small time, with lots of ginger and laughs.
[New acts] Skating and dancing, 9 mins; one. Two young men in evening dress, who have an untutored routine, opening with song and dance on the Doyle and Dixon line, then going into roller skating, after one announced a solo dance as his own conception of tapping He seemed to think more of it than the audience did. The small time is the place for the act, where it may be able to locate more advantage than it does now. Both the boys might learn to take bows without making a facial appeal apparently for them. That is more acrobatic than artist.
: 17 Mins.; One and Full stage. Ray Dooley has taken the best section of her former minstrel turn, condensed what was originally a big girl act into a trio, added some new material and reconstructed her routine into something which bears a semblance to big time speed, although there is still room for further improvement. The trio includes a comedian, “straight” man and Miss Dooley herself, who essays a kid character throughout. The comic can be safely credited with 75 per cent of the turn’s success. He carries a style and delivery of his own and executes some sure-fire falls that will eventually bring him up among the top-notchers in eccentric work. As the turn stands now, it runs a bit long for big time usefulness. The comic’s solo song could be safely discarded with his dance interpolated into the early section. The “bedroom” number could also be consistently eliminated since the girl’s enunciation is rather faculty and the whole bit runs to low comedy and doesn’t harmonize with the balance. And Miss Dooley could and should cover her knees. The rest of the turn is excellent, with the encore, a burlesque of a modern cabaret, measuring up as one of the best comic bits seen around here in many months. The rearranging process would bring the time down to a reasonable limit and in turn develop the act into a standard big time number. Miss Dooley’s business sagacity is evidenced in the billing, but it seems the boys should be credited somewhere for their work. At the Columbia the act took all the honors of the Sunday matinee.
