The There There Letter: Wit, Wellerisms, and Well-made plays

Linocut by Fiona Horan (Sussexcards)
I'm not funny. What I am is brave. (Lucille Ball)
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance.
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First up this week: Wit …
I’ve concerns about the roots of wit and twit. With minimal research, I find that the two words might have some common roots. I like the idea of being a "wit." I aspire to humour and cleverness in what I say and write. These are skills worth cultivating. Kindly wisecracks and spontaneous quips make me happy. The double entendre, as a friend recently reminded me, has long been my métier. Wittiness, in DAH’s judgement, is good and desirable. Twittiness is not desirable. I expect that an occasional drift from wit to twit is part of my personality. When a witticism falls flat, those listening or reading likely see it as a twitticism. I must exercise caution.
Second up this week, Wellerisms …
"Everyone to their own taste," said the woman as she kissed the cow.
That’s a Wellerism. Someone named Wellerisms for Sam Weller, a character in Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers. Weller liked to follow a saying or quotation with a funny follow-up. This literary character won’t have been the first to pursue this practice. But publication brought notoriety and tied his name to this way of being witty (or twitty). A couple of other examples:
This Letter is Free every Friday!
You can subscribe and browse past issues HERE
Please share this with friends and family.
First up this week: Wit …
I’ve concerns about the roots of wit and twit. With minimal research, I find that the two words might have some common roots. I like the idea of being a "wit." I aspire to humour and cleverness in what I say and write. These are skills worth cultivating. Kindly wisecracks and spontaneous quips make me happy. The double entendre, as a friend recently reminded me, has long been my métier. Wittiness, in DAH’s judgement, is good and desirable. Twittiness is not desirable. I expect that an occasional drift from wit to twit is part of my personality. When a witticism falls flat, those listening or reading likely see it as a twitticism. I must exercise caution.
Second up this week, Wellerisms …
"Everyone to their own taste," said the woman as she kissed the cow.
That’s a Wellerism. Someone named Wellerisms for Sam Weller, a character in Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers. Weller liked to follow a saying or quotation with a funny follow-up. This literary character won’t have been the first to pursue this practice. But publication brought notoriety and tied his name to this way of being witty (or twitty). A couple of other examples:
- "Where there are no eagles," said the grasshopper, "I am an eagle."
- "I see," said the blind carpenter as he picked up his hammer and saw.
Now that this witty way is properly named for me, I’m going to wellerize more purposefully.
Third up this week, Well-made plays …
Who would object to a well-made play? Wouldn’t we all prefer stage works to be well-made? Perhaps not, for "well-made play” is actually a specific type of play (like the French pièce bien faite) The "well-made play” in the 19th century (and into the 20th century) has a specific formula in American and European romantic comedy and drama. Indeed, the same formula seems still in use in much television and many movies. Elements include, according to Brittanica:
Third up this week, Well-made plays …
Who would object to a well-made play? Wouldn’t we all prefer stage works to be well-made? Perhaps not, for "well-made play” is actually a specific type of play (like the French pièce bien faite) The "well-made play” in the 19th century (and into the 20th century) has a specific formula in American and European romantic comedy and drama. Indeed, the same formula seems still in use in much television and many movies. Elements include, according to Brittanica:
- Complicated and artificial plotting.
- Build-up of suspense.
- Climactic scene in which all problems are resolved.
- Happy ending.
"For example, the problem of a pretty girl who must choose between a wealthy, unscrupulous suitor and a poor but honest young man. Suspense was created by misunderstandings between characters, mistaken identities, secret information (the poor young man is really of noble birth), lost or stolen documents, and similar contrivances." (Brittanica)
Well-made plays are often scorned today, but I find the formulaic structure and guaranteed happy ending rather soothing.
A Book, A Poem …
Information Desk: An Epic, by Robyn Schiff
I’m flummoxed and already committed to reading this a second time. It’s a novella-length poem. I expected it would be about the poet-author’s experiences at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That isn’t how it read for me, however. Yes, the information desk provides a convenient anchor for some of the poem. But it’s not the subject of this epic. I don’t think I can pinpoint its essence until I read it again. Halfway through my first reading, I finally got into the rhythm of the piece. This book challenged me. And I’m up for the challenge in my second reading!
"An effluvial rush of memory, desire, data, and metaphor … It's bracing to encounter a mind so voracious, so unapologetic in its intelligence." (New York Review of Books)
And a bit more …
Our Revels Now Are Ended
by William Shakespeare (from The Tempest, Act IV, Scene I)
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"
Well-made plays are often scorned today, but I find the formulaic structure and guaranteed happy ending rather soothing.
A Book, A Poem …

I’m flummoxed and already committed to reading this a second time. It’s a novella-length poem. I expected it would be about the poet-author’s experiences at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That isn’t how it read for me, however. Yes, the information desk provides a convenient anchor for some of the poem. But it’s not the subject of this epic. I don’t think I can pinpoint its essence until I read it again. Halfway through my first reading, I finally got into the rhythm of the piece. This book challenged me. And I’m up for the challenge in my second reading!
"An effluvial rush of memory, desire, data, and metaphor … It's bracing to encounter a mind so voracious, so unapologetic in its intelligence." (New York Review of Books)
And a bit more …
Our Revels Now Are Ended
by William Shakespeare (from The Tempest, Act IV, Scene I)
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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