Scott,

I highly recommend the Chapter "Getting the Level" in John Kendrick Bangs'
wonderful book, *From Pillar to Post: Leaves from a Lecturer's
Note-book* (1916)
where Bangs does a great job trying to categorize his platform lecture
audiences (he can't). I suspect Twain encountered the same types in his
audiences.

Bangs started his lecture career on the road with my great-grandfather,
R.K. Munkittrick, and their disastrous "opening night" for Major Pond in
Albany is included in the book. Hilarious.

- Alain


Alain Munkittrick, Associate
Rosemary Munkittrick, Associate

MUNKITTRICK ASSOCIATES, LLC
Architecture, Interior Design and Space Planning
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On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 12:58 PM, Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Trying to come up with a description or a summary of Mark Twain's
> audience, I think, is ultimately un-doable. As I've been collecting the
> reviews for his shows with George Cable I have wondered if anything of
> substance can be gleaned from them.  The comments I can recall about the
> audience(s) have all been rather subjective statements about them being
> the upper crust of the local population - the most literate, the best
> dressed, the most intelligent. It's difficult to tell what this says in
> truth about any particular show as opposed to what it tells us about any
> particular reviewer (who remains nameless behind the masthead).
>
> At best, I think, we wind up with a collection of anecdotes.  But as
> with most things related to Twain - it's fun to try.
>
>
> --
>  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of
>                           in your philosophy.
>                         http://bscottholmes.com
>