"Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" (Tom Lehrer?)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

You think life can't get worse, and then it always does.  No heat at work.
But it's the city, so they open up the place anyway. And  I'm doing parking
tickets for ten hours with a coat and a scarf on. And  then I think, OK, at least
I'll have tomorrow off to go to the Lincoln  Center library for "Birth of a
Nation" and "movie," and then the manager  comes in and says they need me
tomorrow, and they might have  heat...
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"IF HE TOLD YOU TO GO JUMP IN A LAKE, YOU'D DO THAT,  TOO?"
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The river and lake versions are earlier than the Empire  State Building and
George Washington Bridge versions.
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(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
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  _Grand Rapids Tribune _
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=ssVO2f5ZuruKID/6NLMW2tOnVnenEfHSCj3mbiwjUonLnesTayQdBg==)

Thursday,  October 14, 1915 _Grand Rapids,_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:grand_rapids+told+you+to+jump+AND)  _Wisconsin_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:wisconsin+told+you+to+jump+
AND)
...She TOLD me  interposed Heap. "If she TOLD YOU TO  JUMP in the lake would
YOU.....who is only sixteen years  old, TOLD at her home of how HEMP PROVES
ITS..
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(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
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_HILGERT'S  MAGIC CURE.; Left Boy Helpless, Mother Testifies -- Boots Held
Cheap Now. _
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New York Times (1857-Current file). New York,  N.Y.: Feb 10, 1906. p. 2 (1
page)
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"If I told you to jump into the river, would you do it?"
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"BESIDES THAT, MRS. LINCOLN, HOW DID YOU LIKE THE PLAY?"
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MRS. LINCOLN + LIKE THE PLAY--1,430 Google hits, 801 Google Groups  hits
MRS. LINCOLN + ENJOY THE PLAY--5,420 Google hits, 1,050 Google Groups  hits
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This line was probably coined by Tom Lehrer. The American Heritage
Dictionary of American Quotations contains not a single Tom Lehrer line. The  Oxford
Dictionary of Quotations has four Tom Lehrer lines, but "Mrs. Lincoln"  isn't
one of them.

It's a bit off topic, but that fateful night went something like this. Mary
Todd Lincoln was sitting around the house, playing with Lincoln logs. And
Lincoln, good Republican family man that he was, was sitting with her, watching
Spongebob Squarepants. So then Lincoln said, aw Mare!, let's go out to the
Kennedy Center for LA CAGE. Some of my friends are in that...
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(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
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_Tasteful  Good Looks in Scarsdale_
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1106621509&clientId=65882)
By M.H. REED. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: May 29,
1983. p. WC25 (1 page)
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But, as the old line goes, "Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like
the play?"
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_The  Serious, Mind-Bending Work of Laughing at Washington; THE OUTLOOK
INTERVIEW;  MARK RUSSELL, COMEDIAN, TALKS TO LEE MCHAEL KATZ _
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RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1106621051&clientId=65882)
The  Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.: Oct 9, 1983. p.
C3  (1 page)
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Q: Are there emergencies or political actions that don't lend themselves to
humor?
A: Yes. I may feel like commenting about them when they've resolved
themselves. That might be in a few days, it might be in a few months. Lincoln's
assassination, that took what, 100 years. Then finally they said, "Well, outside
of what happened, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"
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_Running  First Women's Bank Is Now a Man's Job_
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VName=HNP&TS=1106620673&clientId=65882)
By N.R.  KLEINFIELD. New York Times (1857-Current file).  New York, N.Y.: Feb
8, 1987. p. F6 (1 page)
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"Asking how the bank was doing aside from a lack of capital," Mr. Simon
said, "is like saying, aside from the assassination, how did you like the play,
Mrs. Lincoln?"
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(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
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     _Chronicle Telegram _
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=9OTicI1+LyyKID/6NLMW2m5Fx6ttXJZLWKHt5aW2Y6knyVnYmGViGw==)  Saturday, September
21, 1996 _Elyria,_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:elyria+mrs.+Lincoln+and+like+the+play)  _Ohio_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:ohio+mrs.+Lincoln+and+like+the+play)      ...may ask.
Right Except for  that, MRS. LINCOLN, how did you LIKE THE  PLAY?
But.....pockets, he had built what seemed LIKE a  viable political party. Now  Perot..