I’m reading a book right now by Mark Twain called How to Tell a Story and Other Essays. In the course of explaining the importance of “the pause” and not laughing at your own punch line, he gives an example from a storyteller named Artemus Ward:

He [Ward] would say eagerly, excitedly, “I once knew a man in New Zealand who hadn’t a tooth in his head” –here his animation would die out; a silent, reflective pause would follow, then he would say dreamily, and as if to himself, “and yet that man could beat a drum better than any man I ever saw.”

As I read it, I so wanted to chuckle to myself and revel in this high humor from an American literary legend. The thing is, I don’t get it. Continue reading →