It takes a special person to tell a joke that will still be funny a century later. American writer Mark Twain was one of those people.Mr Twain died in April 1910, but you can judge for yourself how funny he was in a one-man Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society (BMDS) performance on Saturday, (January 8) given by well-known local actor Gavin Wilson.In ‘Mark Twain, Reminiscences and Other Lies’ Mr Wilson, as Mr Twain, will tell more than 50 of Mr Twain’s jokes and stories. Mr Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, was a frequent visitor to Bermuda right up until his death in 1910. He loved Bermuda, and campaigned to stop motorcars from being brought to the island at that time.“I have done this show for several years,” said Mr Wilson. “When I put it together I was fortunate to have the talents of Diana Tetlow, a portrait artist who isvery good at prosthetic makeup. The idea was to get me to look like him as closely as possible. We also had the help of a wigmaker in London. The suit is authentic to the period, 1905. I play him as a seventy-year-old man.”Mr Wilson was inspired to write the 75-minute play after seeing Mark Twain portrayed in a similar way overseas.“I couldn’t believe that people were sitting in the audience, myself included, laughing at jokes made over 100 years ago,” he said. “The ability to transcend time took a genius. People today are still lining up for part one of his autobiography which was just released in 2010. He didn’t want it published before, because he was afraid it might offend a lot of people.”Mr Wilson said Mr Twain, author of ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court’, among other books, was probably one of the world’s first standup comedians.“He realised that if you are going to catch someone’s attention, you can do it with humour,” said Mr Wilson. “Because his command of the language was so extensive, he would take an ordinary story and by twisting the words around, make for many funny and entertaining anecdotes.”The stories in this particular collection don’t necessarily relate to one another. They cover many different topics, which was typical of Mr Twain’s style.“There are serious bits, but there is always a little twist in it to lighten it up,” said Mr Wilson. “It is done in a warm atmosphere. There aren’t really any stories about Bermuda in this show. He did have one story about Bermuda about a guy on Pitts Bay Road who was missing his cat.“I have left it out only because the story is long. The name of the cat was Praise-The-Lord-I-Am-Coming-Home-Jackson. As the story goes on it is obvious the cat has been stolen. But when he finds who has the cat, and calls it, the cat won’t come. What cat would come to a name like ‘Praise-The-Lord-I’m-Coming-Home-Jackson’. Mark Twain used to stay on Pitts Bay Road in a house on Slip Road.”Mr Wilson said people are often surprised by Mr Twain’s enourmous sense of fun. “He is someone that people can relate to, and you don’t have to tell people who he is,” said Mr Wilson. “They might not have read any of his stuff, but they have a vague idea of who you are talking about. That way you can travel with it. You don’t have to explain who the person is.“He was very profound. So much of what he says is still relevant today. He once said, ‘it behoovhes me to inform you I am the only man alive that understands human nature. God has put me in charge of this branch office’. I’d like to think that because of the man’s mind, because it is so lively, it makes it easy to give a lively performance. He called it the way it was. He was quite irreverent. He doesn’t hold back on what he thinks.”The play will be held on January 8 at 8pm at the Daylesford Theatre. Tickets are $20. Purchase tickets at the Daylesford Theatre box office or online at http://www.express.bm/landing.asp . Check out their website at www.bmds.bm . Telephone bookings can also be made by telephoning 292 0848. All proceeds go to the BMDS Charitable Trust which helps young Bermudians who want to study theatre or related subjects.Things Mark Twain said...Denial aint just a river in Egypt.If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.Get the facts first; you can distort them later.Be careful of reading health books; you may die of a misprint.Giving up smoking is easy I’ve done it a hundred times.