The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 23, 1902, Page 9

o The Prince of Chinese Comedians.{(~ # IM, he catchee three hundra dollah month !!!%¢—o0—27% Him biggest Chinee actor in Melica. **—?—.'"0* Him bella busy man *?—o0**?!!! No can catchee picture. Wha for? —0!11%** Tomollah, kim Chinee New Lear. You sabes Neéw Lear? Alla samee Melican man New 'Lear. *27+%+ big time. Alla Chinee come see Ah Shong. ctiire #9572 —7711188s d for untranslatable Chi- able English oaths of as- s pronunciation. ter for the prince of Chinese the most of the opportunity to air his vo- bacity. To Ah Shong the oaths were per- as meaningless as Tom Hay's Chinese lingo was to the re-s At any rate he smoked his opium serenely, indifferent tb turmofl geing on around him in his cramped and now badly overcrowded dressing room high up over the stage of, the Wash- inton-street Theater. Ah Shong s an International reputation for his funnyisms. Those who know best the of his many histrionic triumphs dec that he is one cf the gre t comedians in China and the very-best t ever came to America. Certain it is that he has been given the undisputed title of the Prince of Chinése Comedians filled a short engagement in San Francisco while on h way to New York a few years ago. that time he created a big £ensation, but nothing quite equa the excitement that has at- tended his return fo > New Ye stivities in Chinatown. nce is t catest even ars. He is en e year a nth, a tru bulous price in the e he poor pl Celestials. Chan Chung, the local theatrical nate, considers rgain at the'pr so just at present individual in the whole Mongolian 1 hour, with one servant ther to hold the pipe and head contentedly .pillowed, when_the- re- 4 Tonr Hay. In ng on ever.since Ah Shong began to smoke. nd in the thickening fumes were abso- pired interpretation of ‘his part. 1y saw the possibilities of the adver < ng his base be g e picture taken. When, however, f the ama dropped off into a sound sleep 1 the midst of Tom H 1ing argument the interpreter louder 1 longer than ever. But Ah Shong dreamed on ; light of day steadily faded and \the ince of Chinese Comedians before stion of the New Year were going g He t feast at once, and might consent picture. ch refreshed, and then there arose a loud and hurrying t that made a perfect bedlam of the aiter. Ah Shong demanded an mperor's robes, the 1 th r wardrobe. None other would he is a.superstition of the race that the baleful eve of the evil spirit shining out of the lens of a modern camera is likely ansform its victim for life into the character repre- T Ah Shong may not believe the superstition, So the picture was taken in the At 6 o'clock Ah Shong was back New drama_was on. ut all that night, th y and the next night as ater was packed from pit to ceiling. Ah Shong has rned a two from the “continuous” vaudeville k, for, k himself to be the whole attraction, he ma t as best it might until it pleased him Although he was billed to appear at 11 o’clock on the of the second day, he kept the packed audience waiting ully an hour after midnight while he smoked several pipes im in his dressing room. Then he came on to a roar of laughter before he had spoken & word. There nothing grotesque in his make-up or his acting. Indeed, he is the most human of them all. It is simply that his e exhales good humor. The plot of the play—it: has a r plot” than many of the up-to-date Amerfcan productions— with the political ambitions and mixed matrimonial relation- Ah Shong’s father and uncle, and at the climax, already layed two hours, during which time the less favored actors had to fake-x s as best they could, Ah Shong appeared. He of the Prodigal Son and Peck's Bad ulse the audience by ridiculing all 3 ned on thes stage three minutes by actual count ough the audience had waited more than six hours for his appearance. Then, quite sure of his triumph, he went back to his d ng room for another smoke, while the audience turned Guickly aside from a final tableau and hurried out into the raia. . ; N