I was a stand-up comedian for 10 years, if you can believe it. And I gave it up at age 22.

He hit the circuit in 1917 as 'Frank Fay, Nut Monologist,' and resistance was immediate. Variety critically stated, 'Fay needs a good straight man, as before, to feed his eccentric comedy.' A comedian standing alone onstage? Unheard of. Doesn’t this guy know anything about showbiz? To stand still and tell jokes was a foreign move. To perform without some kind of gimmick was considered amateurish.

Frank Fay [...] became renowned as the first of the great comic emcees—and in many minds the first stand-up comedian.