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Humorous Readings and Recitations

by Leopold WAGNER (1858 - )

The Wail of a Banner-Bearer

Before radio, television, and electronic mass media, lectures, recitations, public readings, and other public performances were important ways of sharing new works with the public or attracting public attention to issues and authors of the time. Public performance was, in a sense, the internet of its day, as people sought to learn of the world around them, as well as entertain themselves. This anthology of short humorous pieces was intended as a ready reference of material of all sorts to those who participated in public performance, whether professionally, or as part of a school or community program. The pieces themselves were intended to be read aloud, shared with, and appreciated by, an audience. This intent is not dissimilar to the mission of Librivox in the twenty-first century. They were written by popular authors of the period, some of whose names are still well known in the twenty first-century, such as J. M. Barrie (Peter Pan), Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland), W.S. Gilbert (HMS Pinafore) and W.M. Thackeray (Vanity Fair), as well as others whose popularity has waned. (DrPGould)

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Listen next episodes of Humorous Readings and Recitations:
Acting with a Vengeance , Artemus Ward's Visit to the Tower of London , Billy Dumps, the Tailor , Domestic Asides , Moral Music , Mr. Caudle has lent an Acquaintance the Family Umbrella , My Fortnight at Wretchedville , My Friend Treacle , On Punning , Seaside Lodgings , The Charity Dinner , The Dream of the Bilious Beadle , The Sorrows of Werther , The Voice of the Sluggard