a bow, he might as well say good-by to his chances of getting even
another week's booking. Therefore the performer watches the
material that is offered him with the strained attention of an
Asiatic potentate who suspects there is poison in his breakfast
food. He not only guards against old gags or points, but he takes
great care that the specific form of the subject of any routine
that he accepts is absolutely new.

Some of the deliberate choosers watch the field very closely and
as soon as anyone strikes a new vein or angle they proceed to work
it over. But taking the same subject and working around it--even
though each gag or point is honestly new--does not and cannot pay.
Even though the chooser secures some actor willing to use such
material, he fails ultimately for two reasons: In the first place,
the copier is never as good as the originator; and, in the second
place, the circuit managers do not look with favor upon copy-acts.

As the success of the performer depends on his cleverness and the
novelty of his material, in identically the same way the success
of a vaudeville theatre lies in the cleverness and novelty of the
acts it plays. Individual house managers, and therefore circuit
managers, cannot afford to countenance copy-acts. For this reason
a monologist or an act is often given exclusive rights to use a
precise kind of subject-material over a given circuit. A copy-act
cannot keep going to very long with only a few segregated house
willing to play his act.

Therefore before you offer your monologue to a possible buyer, be
sure--absolutely sure--that your theme and every one of your points
and gags are original.