Doctor Curmudgeon® Oh…To Have Had a Seat at That Table!

By Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D. FAAP Doctor Eisman, is in Family Practice in Aventura, Florida with her partner, Dr. Eugene Eisman, an internist/cardiologist

It began its ten year life as a prank.

Back in 1919, John Peter Toohey was a theatrical press agent. Eugene O’Neill was an American playwright, and a Nobel Laureate in Literature who managed to gather a few Pulitzer Prizes along the way. No slouch!

O’Neill was a client of Toohey’s. Alexander Woollcott who was the drama critic for the New York Times refused to promote O’Neill.

Toohey sought revenge!

And so he arranged a luncheon in honor of Woollcott, supposedly to welcome him back from World War I (Woollcott had been stationed overseas as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes).

He gathered together some of the sharpest, wittiest New Yorkers. These were the actors, critics, and writers of the time who were known for their clever and often acerbic repartee. Toohey’s intention was to make fun of Alexander Woollcott…to “roast” him.

The practical joke backfired. Woollcott loved the gathering. He was delighted to be the subject of sharp tongued, humorous ribbing. In fact, it was Woollcott who proposed meeting regularly for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel

And so, in June, 1919, the Algonquin Round Table was born. Eventually, the group named themselves “The Vicious Circle.” They continued meeting for ten years; cracking jokes, usually at the expense of one of their members; pulling pranks on each other; jousting verbally, playing word games; and, of course, eating and drinking.

Who assembled at this ferociously witty table?

The list of those who came and went is long, but a few of the attendees were:

Robert E. Sherwood, playwright who won four Pulitzers and an Oscar for writing The Best Years of Our Lives.

Robert Benchley, managing editor of Vanity Fair and famous humorist

Edna Ferber, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and playwright.

Harpo Marx, musician, actor and comedian.

Dorothy Parker, drama critic for Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, poet, playwright and a fighter for social justice.

Ruth Hale, a war correspondent, and a champion of women’s equality. She even sued the U.S. Date Department in order to have her passport issued in her own name, not as the wife of her husband.

Tallulah Bankhead, actress, and all-around wit.

George S. Kaufman, winner of two Pulitzers, playwright, producer director, actor.

The Algonquin Round Table or The Vicious Circle generated brilliant, witty, and often acerbic quotes:

“If you wear a short enough skirt the party will come to you.” –Dorothy Parker

“My heart is pure as the driven slush.” –Tallulah Bankhead

“Epitaph for a dead waiter –G-D finally caught his eye,” – George S. Kaufman

“It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.” –Robert Benchley

And my personal favorite quote comes from the man who started it all:

“All the things I really like to do are immoral, illegal or fattening.”—Alexander Woollcott.

To quote President John F. Kennedy, “When I was growing up I had three wishes. I wanted to be a Lindbergh-type hero, learn Chinese, and become a member of the Algonquin Round Table.”

Dr. Curmudgeon suggests “Bitter Medicine”, Dr. Eugene Eisman’s story of his experiences–from the humorous to the intense—as a young army doctor serving in the Vietnam War.

Bitter Medicine by Eugene H. Eisman, M.D. –on Amazon

Doctor Curmudgeon® is Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D., a physician-satirist. This column originally appeared on SERMO, the leading global social network for doctors.

SERMO www.sermo.com “talk real world medicine”