In an act of burlesque magic made up as a Chinaman. This fellow has a very good act. There is always something about the exposure of magic tricks that seems to appeal to an audience as being funny, and this fellow is quite a natural performer and his evident enoument [sic] of his own work seems to make him especially strong. It is a mighty good three-show-a-day act. 15 minutes, open full stage, and close in about three or four minutes in one.
This is a very clever dog act, as it always has been. On account of the two show system, I was not able to give it a good place this afternoon so that it was to a certain extent wasted, but it will have a much better place tonight. 15 minutes, full stage.
A man and woman in an act called “The Wandering Minstrels.” The man was formerly with the 3 Dumonts. (He is the fellow that played the guitar). The woman is Miss Louise Taylor, and she is a very good singer indeed. The man’s comedy makeup is about all there is to the act which entitles it to be called a comedy singing act, but their voices blend all right and they were very nicely received this afternoon. 11 minutes in one.
This is a comedy, or an alleged comedy wire performer who has stolen about all the business that he could get hold of, including Jess Dandy’s diamond gag and the growing of artificial flowers, a la Charlie Aldrich. He gets on the wire eventually and closes by riding a bicycle with a grooved wheel up and down the wire which is fairly difficult. 9 minutes, full stage.
This is little Wesley who used to be with Munroe, and a woman who works with him. The act is not in especially good shape yet, and they were also palpably nervous, as I believe this is the second time they have ever done it. I have an idea that it can be whipped into shape so that it will make a fair three-show-a-day act for the present, for he is a pretty good dancer, but it will never be anything more than a fair act. 13 minutes, open full stage, and closing with short encore in one.
Comedy acrobats using the familiar bounding rubber neck. They are both very good performers as usual in an act of this kind. The comedy is not startingly [sic] apparent. The act finishes with a row of sixty somer-saults by the straight performer, and while I don’t imagine there is anything especially hard about it from the assistance he gets from the net, it is still a showy act and sends them off in good shape. 15 minutes, full stage.
Miss Fay made quite a hit with her Avenue A song, which, although pretty rough, she managed to keep down at least in our house sufficiently to not make it offensive. Her “muggings” and her exaggerated walk seemed to impress the audience as extremely funny, and I think she is going to make a big hit at night. 11 minutes in one.
Contralto. Miss Littlefield has a remarkably fine voice. She was extremely nervous this afternoon and unquestionably did not do herself justice. Her personality at present is not calculated to win the audience to any extent, so that she has to make her way entirely with her voice, which she did all right and I think that as soon as she acquires more repose that she is going to be a mighty good acquisition wherever a good singing act is required. 11 minutes in one.
These people are both artists to their finger tips. They have changed their act around so that it takes place in a photograph gallery. Miss Cotton does two or three impersonations and closes her act with a medley and cake walk. The act is hardly liable to be as popular with an afternoon audience as their old offering, but I look for it to go very strong with the night people. It is impossible to get much of a line on it this afternoon as the weather was very warm and the audience correspondingly apathetic. However, I will look for it to go much better as I say tonight. 23 minutes, full stage.
A man, women, and little boy in an eccentric comedy act in which the boy is the feature. He is a very clever “kid”, and while it was necessary to modify some of the rougher parts of the act through instructions from the Gerry Society, he still made good to the fullest extent. The father and mother do not amount to very much, but still do nothing to offend. 26 minutes, open full stage; close with about 5 minutes in one.
