it may be anything at all that builds up the interest and appreciation
of the audience to welcome the 'big' act that follows. "For here
in number eight position--next to closing, on a nine-act bill--the
comedy hit of the show is usually placed. It is one of the acts
for which the audience has been waiting. Usually it is one of the
famous 'single' man or 'single' women acts that vaudeville has
made such favorites.

"And now we have come to the act that closes the show. We count
on the fact that some of the audience will be going out. Many
have only waited to see the chief attraction of the evening, before
hurrying off to their after-theatre supper and dance. So we spring
a big 'flash.' It must be an act that does not depend for its
success upon being heard perfectly. Therefore a 'sight' act is
chosen, an animal act maybe, to please the children, or a Japanese
troupe with their gorgeous kimonos and vividly harmonizing stage
draperies, or a troupe of white-clad trapeze artists flying against
a background of black. Whatever the act is, it must be a showy
act, for it closes the performance and sends the audience home
pleased with the program to the very last minute.

"Now all the time a booking-manager is laying out his show, he has
not only had these many artistic problems on his mind, but also
the mechanical working of the show. For instance, he must consider
the actual physical demands of his stage and not place next each
other two full-stage acts. If he did, how would the stage hands
change the scenery without causing a long and tedious wait? In
vaudeville there must be no waits. Everything must run with
unbroken stride. One act must follow another as though it were
especially made for the position. And the entire show must be