as bright, and the character he is impersonating or telling about
as a real "character." The first four points or gags are snickers
and the fifth or sixth is a laugh. [1] Each point or gag blends
perfectly into the ones preceding and following it. The introduction
of each new story awakens a grin, its development causes a chuckle,
and the point-line itself raises a laugh. The final point or gag
rounds the monologue off in the biggest burst of honest laughter.

[1] It is true that some monologists strive for a laugh on the
very first point, but to win a big laugh at once is very rare.

IV. BUILDING A MONOLOGUE BEFORE AN AUDIENCE

When a writer delivers the manuscript of a monologue to a monologist
his work is not ended. It has just begun, because he must share
with the monologist the pains of delivering the monologue before
an audience. Dion Boucicault once said, "A play is not written,
but rewritten." True as this is of a play, it is, if possible,
even more true of a monologue.

Of course, not all beginners can afford to give this personal
attention to staging a monologue, but it is advisable whenever
possible. For, points that the author and the monologist himself
were sure would "go big," "die," while points and gags that neither
thought much of, "go big." It is for precisely this purpose of
weeding out the good points and gags from the bad that even famous
monologists "hide away," under other names, in very small houses
for try-outs. And while the monologist is working on the stage
to make the points and gags "get over," the author is working in
the audience to note the effect of points and finding ways to