orts of stunts which I have placed effectively in a show. We
had a man in the Princeton show who did a little trick with a
cigarette that was a scream. I saw him standing around, and I asked
him if he could do a specialty. "I don't think so," he said. He was
smoking a cigarette at the time, and he said "This is the only thing I
can do." He took the cigarette from his mouth, broke it in two, lit
both ends of it, and he was smoking with both ends of the cigarette
sticking out of his mouth. Then he put another cigarette in his mouth
and did the same, and finally he lit the third cigarette without using
his fingers but from the other butts in his mouth. Well, I had him do
this stunt in the second act, in a proper spot, and it stopped the
show every performance. Some of those connected with the show told me
before the show that they didn't think what he was doing was going to
get over, but I told them in as nice a way as I could to mind their
own business, as I always do, and I put this "bit" in. I put a
50-ampere spotlight (very strong) on his face, and he did just this
little trick beautifully. Well, there was more talk about that than
anything else in the whole show. It had commercial value and it helped
the box office. People went especially to see him do it. We had stunts
there that had been planned for a year, and they didn't get as much
favorable comment as this one little trick did. Of course, it was
properly fitted in, cued in, as we call it, just as everything else
has to be in the right spot.

[Illustration: WILL ROGERS]

I only point this out to you to tell you that sometimes in arranging
your recitals or shows--whatever you may call them--you will find a
lot of talent which you would otherwise overlook unless you go about
it the thorough way that I do. I do the same with a professional
organization, because after all I am a builder of entertainments and I
must know entertainment values in order to make a success of my
business. I must be able to recognize and fully realize talent when it
is present. You must have a lot of patience to do this work. Some
people are able to do lots of things that will prove entertaining.
After all, what you are concocting is an entertainment. You should
always aim to present something different, something original or novel
that will surprise and amuse your audience, not the hackneyed old
stunts that everyone has seen time and again.

After I get them divided into groups and get