Georges Tiercy is not only a singer but the most inimitable of comedians. His creations are unique. Sometimes he requires the accompaniment of the piano, and sometimes he does not, but, whichever way it is, he keeps his audience at the Quat-Z’Arts in roars of laughter.
It is Tiercy who sings his “Banquet to Monsieur Loubet,” “The Humbert Family,” and the “Train de Marchandises,” the latter ending with an imitation of grand opera which I can assure you is quite as complete as the grand opera itself and five times as amusing. “Come and see me,” said Tiercy one day as we sat chatting in the Quat-Z’Arts. He opened his wide gray eyes at me and passed his hand thoughtfully over his short-cropped forehead. Then he added in a hoarse whisper:
CARICATURES OF CHANSONNIERS BY LÉANDRE
“I live in a forest! It is at Bois Colombes. Ah! my friend, you shall see a little house at the very edge of the real country. Come out and have a petit verre with me.” Then he frowned as he took out his watch and hurriedly left me to catch his train.
A few days later I went out to Bois Colombes to see him. The place did not look very woodsy as I got out of the train. There were no dark fastnesses or wild ravines; in fact, Bois Colombes was, if anything, sadly lacking in verdure. The town itself was quite a practical little place built up with modern houses.
Finally I came to the villa of my friend, the last of a pretty group of houses enclosed by a hedge. The author of the “Train de Marchandises” came out to greet me. He seemed worried and preoccupied and explained to me he was much fatigued, having just returned from a hard journey to Brussels where he had sung the day before.
“And where is the forest?” I asked.
“Ah!” he replied, as if saving a surprise, “you shall see. Come into the house and we will have a bottle of stout.”