show business, demanding two very rare things: uncommon ability
in the man, and extraordinary merit in the monologue itself.

To arrive at a clear understanding of what a monologue is, the
long way around through the various types of "talking singles" may
be the shortest cut home to the definition.

1. Not a Soliloquy.

The soliloquy of the by-gone days of dramatic art was sometimes
called a monologue, because the person who spoke it was left alone
upon the stage to commune with himself in spoken words that described
to the audience what manner of man he was and what were the problems
that beset him. Hamlet's "To be or not to be," perhaps the most
famous of soliloquies, is, therefore, a true monologue in the
ancient sense, for Hamlet spoke alone when none was near him. In
the modern sense this, and every other soliloquy, is but a speech
in a play. There is a fundamental reason why this is so: A monologue
is spoken _to the audience_, while in a soliloquy (from the Latin
_solus_, alone, _loqui_, to talk) the actor communes _with himself_
for the "benefit" of the audience.

2. Not Merely an Entertainment by One Person

There are all sorts of entertaining talking acts in vaudeville
presented by a single person. Among them are the magician who
performs his tricks to the accompaniment of a running fire of talk
which, with the tricks themselves, raises laughter; and the person
who gives imitations and wins applause and laughter by fidelity
of speech, mannerisms and appearance to the famous persons imitated.