Greetings all!

Next Tuesday the Hartford House's "The Trouble Begins at 5:30" features the ever-genial and informative John Pascal on one of his prime areas of expertise: Artemus Ward, the man who made Lincoln laugh, whose exploits with The Lincoln of Our Literature included that famed drunken ramble across the rooftops of Virginia City.

John, of course, highlights what Ward biographer John Pullen calls the humorist's behavior on the lecture platform -- his “mock gravity, the look of innocent surprise when the audience laughed . . . anticlimaxes, pauses, non sequiturs, and wanderings of thought” -- and how these techniques were copied by Mark Twain.

John has taught high school for nearly two decades at Elizabeth Seton Preparatory School in New Jersey, and has frequently brought students to Hartford to share his Twainian enthusiasms. His many accomplishments (which include creating an Honors course devoted entirely to Twain) can be read about here, where you can also register for this free virtual event, accessible from anywhere:

https://marktwainhouse.org/event/trouble-begins-john-pascal-on-artemus-ward/

Again, Tuesday, November 10, at 5:30 p.m. EST.

Cheers,
Steve

Steve Courtney, Curatorial Volunteer
The Mark Twain House & Museum
351 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06105
860-302-8969