People in 1907 Paid Comedians To Make This Woman Smile And No One Ever Succeeded

by Jack

It takes a special type of salty to be regarded by the whole world as 'Sober Sue - The Woman Who's Never Smiled' but that is exactly what a young woman at the turn of the last century was known as. Sober Sue was an act at the Hammersteins - the prominent Vaudeville theater of the day in New York.

Vaudeville was the most popular form of entertainment in the Western world around 1880-1930 and was comprised of short skits by comedians, actors and performers of all kinds. Sober Sue was different however, as the aim of the show was simply to make her laugh or at least smile.

In the years that she was part of the theater, no one ever succeeded, and some of the best comedians in the world tried.

The Hammersteins Theater in New York

Wikipedia

In 1907 the act first debuted, with the producers of the theater offering a $1000 prize to anyone who could make her laugh. That was an absolutely huge amount of money at the time and was sought after by comedians and performers from all across the country. Many, many people tried but no one ever even got the slightest twinkle of a smile in the eye of Sober Sue, something the people attending found extremely entertaining.

Sober Sue

Flickr

Years later though, the truth came out and much like many of the acts in this day, there was a scam behind it. Sue had a rare condition that basically meant she was paralyzed in her face. This meant that even though she was probably very amused by the talent on stage, she couldn't smile or laugh even if she wanted to. The producers were paying her $20 a week which was a pretty decent wage at the time. When the news came out, comedians and performers ostracized the producers of the show for tricking them for years.