# What were "comedy" and "laughter" like 100+ years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 6, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700 "2023-07-06T20:22:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2023, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/122 "2023-07-15T07:57:22Z")
Missed the edit window. I graduated in 1973. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/123 "2023-07-15T15:47:42Z")
Me, too! But I had extra credits from some honors programs, so I graduated a quarter early. Oh, and we share a first name _too._ ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/124 "2023-07-16T22:38:10Z")
Too weird! I didn’t know anyone there with my name, but we probably passed each other on campus. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/125 "2023-07-16T22:39:39Z")
Entirely possible! I was mostly North campus (my sister was a zoology major and South Campus). Ate lunch at the Gypsy Wagon a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/126 "2023-07-17T08:57:14Z")
I remember that. I had a lot of classes in Haines Hall. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/127 "2023-07-17T16:22:54Z")
I was an English major, so I was in Royce a lot. Do you remember all the kerfuffle after Kent State? Were you on campus that day? I was, and it was surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/128 "2023-07-18T08:21:47Z")
I transferred there in 1971, so I missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/129 "2023-07-18T17:27:34Z")
Because this thread reminded me, I finished out my set of Mr. Dooley books. I found a first edition of the 1902 _Mr. Dooley’s Observations_. Not terrific condition but solid. What was really cool was something the seller didn’t mention: a folded half-page of the August 27, 1904 edition of the _Minneapolis Journal_, with a full Mr. Dooley column, illustrated by Frank Wing, “Mr. Dooley on the War,” the War being the Russo-Japanese War, just under way. “I niver raymimber a hero’s name of f’rget a coward’s.” On the flip side was a mention of forest fires raging through British Columbia. Some things never change. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700/130 "2023-07-20T03:59:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Having been in a community theater production of _Our American Cousin,_ I’d say it can be a pretty funny play if done right, although it’s fairly lowbrow, SNL-style comedy, not unlike plenty of comedy movies that have been made over the years. I would like to have seen that show! This thread inspired me to read [the script of the play,](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3158/3158-h/3158-h.htm) and yeah, although some of the jokes and slapstick fall flat today, there’s enough comic potential for it to come across as very funny if done with pace and gusto. “Well, if you had a brother do you think he’d like cheese?” 😁 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-comedy-and-laughter-like-100-years-ago/986700.md?page=6)