Two black face comedians in an eccentric talking, dancing, and grotesque acrobatic specialty. These people do a pretty good act, but they are not really strong enough for the place in which I am obliged to put them this week. They should be on about 8 o’clock, or 8:30 at the latest, but as they open and close their act in one there does not seem to be anything else to do but put them were they are. They do all right, but it would be much better if they could go on elsewhere. 17 minutes, open and close in one.
In “A Blue Grass Widow.” It is, of course, needless to say that Mr. and Mrs. Nobles are as artistic as they ever were. They have a new woman with them this time who plays the third character for the first time this afternoon, but I think she is the best one they have ever had and is perfectly easy in the part. It is an excellent act. 33 minutes, full stage.
A mighty clever eccentric sketch by a man and woman. They do a little singing, a little dancing, a little burlesque act, and some imitations that are really funny. They keep the audience interested every minute they are on. 15 minutes, open full stage, close with about three or four minutes in one if needed.
Comedy juggler. This fellow comes mighty close to being as good as W.C. Fields. In fact he has more original ideas than any performer in his line who I have ever seen. He is not a very great juggler, but he has some very funny novelties in his act that set the audience howling before he does anything at all. 15 minutes, open full stage, close in 4 minutes in one.
A Dutch comedy sketch. The woman of this act does not amount to very much, but the man is quite a clever Dutch comedian. His dialect is especially good, and once in a while he drops into a line of talk in the German language which was always funny, especially here in New York. He also gives a burlesque imitation of an orchestra leader which made quite a hit this afternoon. It is a good act. 18 minutes. Open full stage and close in about three minutes in one.
This is an Indian woman and her partner, a man. The man opens the act with a few tricks of juggling. The woman comes on then dressed in full Indian style and sings an Indian song in English and in the Indian language; then a character song supposed to be sung by the Indians prior to going upon the warpath, and they close with some fairly good work on a couple of banjos. The costume of the woman, and the fact that she is an Indian makes the act somewhat of a novelty, and it is a very acceptable offering. 15 minutes, open in full stage; could close in one if necessary.
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.
15 min. – Gar. In 4; close in one –Two men, in a triple bar act, one working grotesque. They have been here before, but to-day they seemed to work very slowly, and could not hold their own in the hard place they had on the bill. They have an excellent bar act, but if they don’t inject ginger into it at tonight’s show, they will have to go up the bill.
27 mins. – C.D.F. in 3 – in “The New Coachman,” that we have billed as our headliner. It seems hard to believe that Cressy ever wrote a word of the sketch as it was presented this afternoon. We had believed that it was a really strong act. It turned out to be suggestive throughout; and, although the act received some laughs, not a single one was gotten legitimately, but was forced by the springing on the audience a suggestive joke, or suggesting to them a situation that would hint at immorality. Part of the audience saw it in spots; others could not see the act at all. We surely have had many stronger headliners
10 min. in one – A soloist, with a freak high note that she springs in “The Last Rose of Summer.” She is a good singer, but not a great one. Her violin imitation is good. She was well received, with some applause. This woman is also possessed of a freak manager, who came in this morning and started to tear the house apart, because she was not billed strongly enough. He had an idea that he wanted to write his own criticism and have it published. Up to the present writing, he has failed to connect.
