Before Sophie Tucker “corked up” to entertain her audiences with ragtime songs in “Negro dialect” and before Fanny Brice stumbled into the footlights in her rendition of the “Dying Swan,” the reigning queen of comedy and song on the American stage was May Irwin. A performer in both vaudeville and the legitimate stage, Irwin was also known as an accomplished homemaker and loving mother, a political activist, a real estate tycoon, and a prolific writer of articles, composer of songs, and author of a popular cookbook. This book is the first full-length study of Irwin and focuses on the strategies ... More

Before Sophie Tucker “corked up” to entertain her audiences with ragtime songs in “Negro dialect” and before Fanny Brice stumbled into the footlights in her rendition of the “Dying Swan,” the reigning queen of comedy and song on the American stage was May Irwin. A performer in both vaudeville and the legitimate stage, Irwin was also known as an accomplished homemaker and loving mother, a political activist, a real estate tycoon, and a prolific writer of articles, composer of songs, and author of a popular cookbook. This book is the first full-length study of Irwin and focuses on the strategies she used to remain successful, both personally and publicly, throughout a long life. Her success far exceeded those of her contemporaries, even though she was involved in often controversial political activities such as suffragism and pacifism. As a female comic, she made fun of the dominant male culture by anchoring her more radical views with domestic feminism.Using her body weight as a source of self-deprecating humor, she nevertheless retained an aura of attractiveness. One of the first celebrity chefs, she filled her cookbook with jokes and songs. Irwin is identified closely with the birth of the “coon” song and may have been forgotten because of the racism associated with what was undeniably popular American music from the 1890s through the 1920s. The author delves into the audience response to Irwin’s performances, both in her coon shouting and in her character work in musical farce.