If you enjoy comedy clubs, humor in general, and standup comedians in particular, you’ll be ready to celebrate today. It’s the 190th anniversary of Charles Farrar Browne, who’s considered to be the first standup comedian and was a well-known humorist in the 1800s.
He was born Charles Brown, without the “e,” in a small town in Maine in the US. (Yes, he’s the original Charlie Brown, but not the namesake of the cartoon character.) Brown added the “e” to his surname after he got famous. His first jobs were in newspapers; he was a compositor in the print shop, and soon began contributing articles and stories. In 1858 he was working for the Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio, when he made up the character “Artemus Ward” and began writing stories about Ward’s antics. Ward was “an illiterate rube” who managed to get into, and out of, all sorts of hilarious situations. Artemus Ward was also a huge hit, throughout the US and in England as well.
By 1860 Browne had moved to New York City and become the editor of Vanity Fair, a new humor magazine (not the same Vanity Fair magazine that’s still published today). He also began performing on various stages and venues, where he would play the part of Artemus Ward. His act was so popular that he took it on the road and toured the US — in the process, becoming an early expert in advance publicity. He was one of the first performers to send his manager ahead to a place he planned to perform, to buy newspaper ads, put up posters, and generally drum up anticipation.
Browne also kept writing Artemus Ward stories, which kept growing in popularity. Abraham Lincoln, when he was president, read some of the Ward pieces out loud to his cabinet. Browne was at least equal in fame to another humorist from the 1800s, Mark Twain. In fact the two were great friends, and even performed together on stage at least once, in Virginia City, Nevada. The story goes that after their performance they got drunk and were staggering around on the roofs of Virginia City buildings until the sheriff threatened to shoot them down with his shotgun.
In 1866, Browne traveled to England and performed to packed houses, and started publishing in the English humor magazine Punch. It was an ill-fated trip, though. In 1867 he contracted tuberculosis and died in Southampton.
Artemus Ward Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio is named after him (or his character), and in a park in that city there are statues of Browne and Mark Twain.
