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Fwd: another old joke rehashed. What time's the next swan?
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EDMusing. I wonder if the Slezak family anecdote occurs in the original Russian
version. Easily determined by searching the on-line text. And what year did
Walter publish his book.
----- Forwarded message from chaiselongue@earthlink.net -----
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 10:10:31 -0800
From: Carolyn <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
An interesting example of how tricky the concept of "plagiarism" can be came
up recently in a private conversation with Jansy in Brazil. We were
discussing Lohengrin as a grail story and Jansy told me how funny she found
Nabokov's joke about missing the swan (-boat) in Laughter in the Dark.
But that's not Nabokov's joke, it is a famous anecdote from the career of
the wonderful tenor Leo Slezak (1873 - 1946). I thought it would be
interesting to compare the two jokes and to ask Dmitri if he (almost as big
an opera singer as the 6'7" Slezak) can cast any light on the subject.
Laughter in the Dark:
Miller licked his chops and sat down again. Then he smiled, and in a new
good-natured manner launched into a funny story about some friend of his, an
opera singer who once, in the part of Lohengrin, being tight, failed to
board the swan in time and waited hopefully for the next one.
compare this to the (almost) original joke:
What Time's the Next Swan? by Walter Slezak (as told to Smith-Corona Model
88E)
Papa told ... about a Lohengrin performance. It was just before his first
entrance. He was ready to step into the boat, which, drawn by a swan was to
take him on stage. Somehow the stagehand on the other side got his signals
mixed, started pulling, and the swan left without Papa. He quietly turned
around [to the audience] and said: "What time's the next swan?"
Carolyn
----- End forwarded message -----
version. Easily determined by searching the on-line text. And what year did
Walter publish his book.
----- Forwarded message from chaiselongue@earthlink.net -----
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 10:10:31 -0800
From: Carolyn <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
An interesting example of how tricky the concept of "plagiarism" can be came
up recently in a private conversation with Jansy in Brazil. We were
discussing Lohengrin as a grail story and Jansy told me how funny she found
Nabokov's joke about missing the swan (-boat) in Laughter in the Dark.
But that's not Nabokov's joke, it is a famous anecdote from the career of
the wonderful tenor Leo Slezak (1873 - 1946). I thought it would be
interesting to compare the two jokes and to ask Dmitri if he (almost as big
an opera singer as the 6'7" Slezak) can cast any light on the subject.
Laughter in the Dark:
Miller licked his chops and sat down again. Then he smiled, and in a new
good-natured manner launched into a funny story about some friend of his, an
opera singer who once, in the part of Lohengrin, being tight, failed to
board the swan in time and waited hopefully for the next one.
compare this to the (almost) original joke:
What Time's the Next Swan? by Walter Slezak (as told to Smith-Corona Model
88E)
Papa told ... about a Lohengrin performance. It was just before his first
entrance. He was ready to step into the boat, which, drawn by a swan was to
take him on stage. Somehow the stagehand on the other side got his signals
mixed, started pulling, and the swan left without Papa. He quietly turned
around [to the audience] and said: "What time's the next swan?"
Carolyn
----- End forwarded message -----