A Classic Clip from Hal Holbrook's 1967 "Mark Twain Tonight"

An amazing and highly amusing tidbit from Holbrook's landmark TV special. Might this have been even somewhat what it was like to witness the master at work?

Fascinating Look at Sam Clemens' Formative Years

The Sierra Mountain Times has a very interesting piece up today on the early years Twain spent in California, particularly in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties, writing in relative anonymity before his career took off with the publication of The Innocents Abroad.

Apparently, the piece ties into an event being put on by the Tuolumne County Historical Society at the Sonora Library this Friday night. Actor Pat Kaunert will portray Twain, and the book Mark Twain's Sojourn in Tuolumne County will be available for purchase. I encourage all to check out the article here.

Hal Holbrook's Amazing Legacy

A profile of acclaimed actor and Twain impersonator Hal Holbrook today in the Knoxville News makes the very amusing observation that Holbrook has actually portrayed Mark Twain for a longer period of time than Samuel Clemens himself used the pen name of Mark Twain.

Specifically, Holbrook has played Twain for 55 years, since his first 1954 performance at Pennsylvania's Lock Haven State Teachers College. Clemens only used the Twain pen name for the last 47 years of his life.

Hal Holbrook's Life as Twain

Of all those actors who have taken on the mantle of Mark Twain, Hal Holbrook is the most iconic and the most renowned. He's been doing his "Mark Twain Tonight!" one-man show since 1954--when he was 29! And Holbrook is still going strong today, and is in fact on tour at the moment playing Mr. Clemens to the delight of viewers and critics--now at age 83.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat published a feature on Holbrook and his show last Thursday that's well-worth checking out.

The Wild Humorist of the Western Slope

Actor MacAvoy Layne will be performing his one-man show "Wild Humorist of the Western Slope, Mark Twain" at Taylor Creek, Nevada's Lake of the Sky Amphitheater, according to the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

Layne has impersonated Twain at Taylor Creek in a wide variety of shows over the past two decades. This one in particular covers the author's adventures out West, which made up the bulk of his 1872 memoir, Roughing It. Most Twain enthusiasts will recall that much of those adventures took place in the then-territory of Nevada, particularly in the fledgling Carson City.

For more information on the show, call the Taylor Creek Visitor Center at (530) 543-2674.

Jim Post's Laughing River Returns

Folk singer Jim Post rolled out the acclaimed one-man musical show "Mark Twain and the Laughing River"--which he introduced in 1997--last night at Galena, Illinois' Trolley Depot Theater, according to the Tribune Herald of Dubuque, Iowa.

The show is a celebration of Twain's childhood on the Mississippi River, which he often cited as a major inspiration of his life. The Smithsonian Institution has this to say:

"Post's depiction of Mark Twain is nothing less than brilliant, and each sentence and song is a gem... nothing but kudos from our audience members of all ages... This is a show that should be on Broadway."

Post regularly performs the show throughout the Illinois/Iowa area, and even brought it out to California last February.

An Evening with Mark Twain

Clemens enthusiasts in the great state of Massachusetts are encouraged to seek out "An Evening with Mark Twain" in Newburyport. Part of a tradition of Twain impersonation/tribute shows (the most famous of which was that of Hal Holbrook) , the presentation will occur on the evenings of Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19.

Stage actor Michael Mauldin will portray the man himself, as he has been doing in the one-man show since 1975. Mauldin has long been a mainstay of regional theatre, particularly in the New York area, where is best known for having portrayed Iago in the Riverside Shakespeare Company's production of Othello. His performances as Twain have appeared in the past on both ABC and PBS.

For more information, go to firehouse.org.