XVII

HUMOR AND ANECDOTE

The most distinctive quality in Charles Frohman's make-up was his sense
of humor. He mixed jest with life, and it enabled him to meet crisis and
disaster with unflagging spirit and smiling equanimity. Like Lincoln, he
often resorted to anecdote and story to illustrate his point. He summed
up his whole theory of life one day when he said to Augustus Thomas:

"I am satisfied if the day gives me one good laugh."

He had a brilliancy of retort that suggested Wilde or Whistler. Once he
was asked this question:

"What is the difference between metropolitan and out-of-town audiences?"

"Fifty cents," he replied.

* * *

Haddon Chambers was writing a note in Frohman's rooms at the Savoy.

"Do you spell high-ball with a hyphen?" he asked.

"No, with a siphon," responded Frohman.

* * *

Charles Dillingham, when in Frohman's employ, was ordered to hurry back
to New York. From a small town up New York state he wired:

_Wash-out on line. Will return as soon as possible._

Frohman promptly sent the following reply:

_Never mind your wash. Buy a new shirt and come along at once._

That he could also meet failure with a joke is shown by the following
incident:

He was producing a play at Atlantic City that seemed doomed from the
start. In writing to a member of his family he said:

_I never saw the waves so high and the receipts so low._

Frohman and Pinero were dining in the Carleton grill-room one night when
a noisy person rushed up to them, slapped each on the shoulder, and
said:

"Hello, 'C. F.'! Hello, 'Pin.'! I'm Hopkins."

Frohman looked up gravely and said:

"Ah, Mr. Hopkins, I can't say that I remember your name or your face,
but your manner is familiar."

* * *

When Edna May married Oscar Lewisohn she gave a reception on her return
from the honeymoon. She sent Charles one of the conventional engraved
cards that read:

"_At home Thursday from four to six._"

Frohman immediately sent back the card, on which he had written, "So am
I."

* * *

Once when Frohman and Dillingham were crossing to Europe on the
_Oceanic_ they had as fellow-passenger a mutual friend, Henry Dazian,
the theatrical costumer, on whom Charles delighted to play pranks. On
the first day out Dillingham came rushing back to Frohman with this
exclamation:

"There are a couple of card-sharks on board and Dazian is playing with
them. Don't you think we had better warn him?"