We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
80
Actorviews
“I’ve never been that way while playing one,” he anticipated. “But I shouldn’t think so. When a man’s ‘lit’ he thinks he’s the funniest thing on earth. I know I do. I always want to be funny when I’ve had one too many, and then I’m about as comical as a cremation. I’ve only once been in that self-confident condition on the stage. And I hasten to add that I was not acting at the time. It was at the Sunday night invitation dress rehearsal opening of ‘Spite Corner,’ and I got a tiny bun on. Well, I’d done the best I could writing the darned thing ; it didn’t seem to belong to me any more — it belonged to the public, if they wanted it. Anyway, my work was done, and I turned everything over to the stage manager and then went out and took a few Scotches and then a few more. But I got the greatest set of notices from the New York critics that you ever saw.”
“On the play?”
“On the play, nothing ! On my speech.”
“What’d you say?”
“To understand just what I said, you should be acquainted with ‘The Old Soak.’ There’s a character in that delightful comedy called ‘Al,’ and he’s a bootlegger, and the catch-line of the piece is, ‘Al’s here!’
“Well,” he chuckled, “when the applause began and somebody cried ‘Author !’ I tried to beat it out of the theater, with my derby hat on and my cigar in my mouth, and my tiny bun beaming all over me. But somebody grabbed me and ran me down the aisle and onto the stage. And all I said to the audience — all I could say — was:
“ ‘Ladies and gemmen : Al’s been here.’
“And you never read such thrilling notices as that speech got.”