In 1834, British comedian Charles Mathews travelled to America to tour a one-person show that had been a huge success in England. The performance, entitled "A Trip to America," was in part the result of observations made by Mathews on a tour of America he had made a decade earlier. This show was another in a series of highly popular solo performances by Mathews, known as the "At Homes." Each of these had an autobiographical content and loosely took the form of a kind of update or report.
Mathews, known more for his kinetic one-man "entertainments" than for his performances in legitimate comic drama, may never have intended to perform "A Trip to America" anywhere but in England. His British audience was familiar with his performance style, which relied heavily on his extraordinary skill in mimicry. This audience was also hungry for reports from America and eager to laugh at the foibles of Americans. The American audience could be expected to respond somewhat differently.
At issue, then, is not only the degree to which Mathews presented an accurate reporting of his observations in America, but the curious series of events that lead him to bring this self-same report back to its place of inspiration. Key to an understanding of this unique instance of cultural exchange are the intention and the execution of both the entertainment itself and the voyage which brought back across the Atlantic.
Fragments of a text of the original entertainment exist, as do numerous contemporary accounts of Mathews' work. Much conjecture has been put forth in the meantime as to the relevance, importance, and artistic merit of Charles Mathews' "A Trip to America." While it is at times difficult to determine exactly what transpired during the entertainment in question, a close examination of existing evidence suggests an interesting relationship between travel and performance. The comedian travels to disseminate his work, but also to gather material for that work. By examining the work of Charles Mathews, I hope to launch a discussion of the unique qualities of live performance as a form of travel reporting, the issue of accuracy, and the place in all of this for entertainment itself.
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