Under the Table.
Let the host make a wager with one of his men guests that he cannot get under the dining table or some small sidetable and stay there while his host knocks three times on the table. “Why that would take just a second! Surely I can!” He gets under the table and his host knocks once and twice and then knocks no more but proceeds to lead his guests out of the room, leaving his betting friend either to pay up, or wait indefinitely under the table for the third knock!
Impossible!
“Would you like to see something that has never been seen before and that will never be seen again?”
“Impossible!”
Whereupon you pick up an English walnut or any kind of nut, crack it, take out the kernel and ask if it has ever been seen before; then eat it and ask if it will ever be seen again!
The Lost Sheep.
This is to follow some vocal selection that gained enough applause to justify an encore. Immediately following the announcement that the next number is to be a little ballad entitled “The Lost Sheep,” the accompanist begins an elaborate accompaniment with an introduction that is unusually long. At the correct moment she crashes out a loud chord and signals to the singer to begin. The singer takes a deep breath, holds it as long as she can, and then gives forth one heart-rending “Baa!”, the song of the lost sheep.
The Gathering of the Nuts.
It is announced that an impromptu farce will be staged, with guests taking the various parts. As the different guests are assigned parts they are in turn called to the stage and told where and how to stand. If a large group is present, from fifteen to twenty actors are used; if a small group, all of them may take part. A list of the various rôles has been made out, and the announcer begins calling out characters with the name of the guest who is to take each part. The following cast is used to good advantage: