BENGOUGH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 598, 28 August 1909, Page 7

BENGOUGH.

LINES AND LAUGHTER.

"A dolightful entertainment" was the verdict of the "seven hundred people that packed thomselvos into tho;Conoert Chamber . last ,v evening • to-,- welcome Bengough,- the cartoonist/and raconteur,, who hails ..from tho sister Dommion"Our Lady oftho Snows." Bongough is ju6t like nobody we have seon or heard in Wellington before. He .is a distinct. personality, not magnetic, yot he grips j. rather deliberate than sparkling, yot one wants to-hear every word and see every i chalk mark he makes.. HeUjust •ambles along in the glow of a genial, 'presence, doing and saying nothing but'what is interesting, clever, and musical. - With the chalks his line is strong and true, with a pleasant humour • in ; every . curve, ; ifnd quietly quips to suit the kindly satire of the moment.- With consummate art he makes pictures out of anything—a couple of Euclidean' angles he transforms .(to a running accompaniment of cheerful patter) into an ugly boy>wolfing a wedge of cake; he metamorphoses the sunflower of primitive art into /a ,tiny: maid who in.- fancy ho ■ decress shall take 1 , lessons m elocution at the Spoutville Academy:.of Dramatic Art,;Spoutville; .and then leaving the" lot lonesome on the easel, proceeds to - show bow tho-finished product would:. recite "Barbara Freitclne," to .' an audience convulsed - with, laughter: • Bengough :is a "dialectician". ,of .' parts. His •Scotch stones:'were good 'ones . arid.- new. enough: in "Chucklenead'la War Story!!; he is the homey American to the' life; and' on reciting his own "Visit of ■ the -Yankee Fleet'*! he.lifted: his audience into an inflam-mably-patriotic: condition good to see. . The ladies owo him a grudge .for exposing the real holloiynes!. . of ■ the ■directoire, but v 'tho crept -.back'-:into their. affections -in .■ his 'recital .-of Whitcomb 1 Riley's pathetic; beam "Grandpap." -Another of'his "hits" was-tho evolution of an amateur singer how he sang.''-'Then You'll Remember Ms" ■ before and after- a - course in Italy,; His: talent at ■: "getting a face?was cleverly illustrated in a couple of local snaps;.-one being "Fred." Roberts, the slim, footballer, , who, with ithe members of the and Auckland representative teams,. was among. tho atidi-

ence i i " Assisting' Bengongh was Mr. Borneo Gardi-1 nor, a siifleur. parts. He -whistles musically, and-with amplo appreciation of tho colour m his numhofs. Ho trilled "The Mock-j ing: .Bird"-: delightfnllyi" introducing ■ variations in bird < talk until ■ one imagined - a wholo i aviary had been loosed.' As.an encore,!ho piped .the .:intermezzo from Mascagni's "Cavallena' Rusticani." . Later -in tho -evening Mr.' Gardiner' demonstrated his versatility by : whistling- Molloy's' pretty , ballad i .'.'Tho Carnival." The .vocalist of,.tho evening was Mr.-,- Claudo- Allan, the possessor of. a light, tuneful -tenor, which he uses with an artistic discrimination that: only lacks animation.' Mr.\ Allan's items>w«ro :"Tnne-W»8 I. Roved tho MountainsM' (encored), and Lambert's pretty song;"' She: iB Far from the Land.", i Miss-Dora Garrolbplayed-.a couple:, of: piano.- ; ' forto ■ selections; andr tho accompaniments acceptab'y. i ~ < - 1 ' 1 Bengough xcanri.'OTily be •Beon'.irti'iiiWd'Tnorer" odcasions—to-night .and on-Monday ovening-r----owing to.- arrangements ahead; . - iHe should not be missed if regrets aro to bo avoided. Among those presmt last evening were tho. Hon. "Dr.- 1 Fmdlay; 'Hon. Geo. FoWlds', and. Mr. Justico Sim. 4 '