[Ads-l] "A comic does funny things; a comedian does things funny"

[Dan Goncharoff]

This is not an antedating, but I thought it relevant:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1981.1502_164.x
Fall 1981

Calls the quotation an "old vaudeville maxim" that Johnny Carson used to
describe Fred Allen.
DanG


On Mon, Jan 20, 2020 at 8:44 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Interesting question, Ben Y. Thanks for sharing excellent citations, Ben Z.
>
> I came across a slightly earlier citation in 1959. After I found this
> I noticed that it had very recently been clipped by Barry Popik.
>
> An ex-vaudevillian named Robert Lemke was interviewed, and he (or the
> interviewer) attributed the saying to Fred Allen.
>
> Date: August 9, 1959
> Newspaper: The Sunday Press
> Newspaper Location: Binghamton, New York
> Article: Rock 'n Roll 'Musically Horrid' Says Ex-2-a-Dayer
> (Continuation title: Rock)
> Author: Sunday Press Bureau
> Start Page C1, Quote Page C2, Column 1
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42680198/say_funny_things_vs_say_things_funny/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Asked his views on humor, Mr. Lemke recalled words of the late Fred
> Allen. "He said something like, "A good comedian can say things funny
> and other guys just say funny things,"" Mr. Lemke said.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Mon, Jan 20, 2020 at 3:53 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I'll get the ball rolling with these three variants credited to Ed Wynn
> in
> > late 1960...
> >
> > ---
> > LA Times, Nov. 1, 1960, p. III8 (syndicated column by Hedda Hopper)
> > "A comic is a monologist who tells jokes but he isn't necessarily funny,"
> > says Ed Wynn. "He's a man who doesn't do funny things but who does things
> > funny. He doesn't open a funny door, he opens a door funny."
> > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42670027/ed_wynn_funny_things/
> > ---
> > Quad City Times (Iowa), Dec. 8, 1960, p. 36 (wire story from UPI)
> > [Ed Wynn:] "Red [Skelton] is saying things funny and the others are
> saying
> > funny things. There's a difference. Today, many comedians just stand up
> and
> > do a monologue."
> > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42670146/ed_wynn_funny_things/
> > ---
> > Anderson (Indiana) Herald, Dec. 22, 1960, p. 21 (wire story from UPI)
> > [Carol Burnett:] "I always remember what Ed Wynn once told me: 'Some
> people
> > say funny things -- but a true comedian says things funny.'"
> > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42670216/ed_wynn_funny_things/
> > ---
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 20, 2020 at 3:32 PM Ben Yagoda <byagoda at udel.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > Question for Garson: On Facebook, I just encountered a quote
> attributed to
> > > Buster Keaton: “A comedian things does funny things. A good comedian
> does
> > > things funny.” I was skeptical of the attribution (partly because of
> the
> > > flat adverb) but when I Googled the quote I found lots of Keaton
> > > attributions. But Wikipedia quoted a variant (citing Simpson’s
> Contemporary
> > > Quotations, 1988) and attributed it to Ed Wynn: "A comic says funny
> things;
> > > a comedian says things funny.”
> > >
> > > That jogged my memory that when I encountered the quote years ago the
> > > contrast was indeed comic/comedian instead of comedian/good comedian.
> > >
> > > Anyway, Garson, I’d appreciate it if you sleuth out this quote.
> > >
> > > Ben
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
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