Excerpts from the Black Press about Bert Williams

Background: In these excerpts from two articles from the Black press, guest writers Booker T. Washington and Florenz Ziegfeld describe the skill and popularity of Bert Williams.

Bert Williams, World’s Famous Funny Comedian at the Tabor

The most remarkable case of personality that I know of is Bert Williams. The instant he appears, everybody pays keen attention. Even the chorus girls in the wings stop their chatter and watch him. I think he is the best comedian we have on the stage today. . . 

Williams’ color doesn’t seem to count against him with the public. He gets more applause when he comes on the stage than anybody I’ve ever had. Of course they won't stand for him south of Baltimore and it is in his contract that I will never take him in that  section . . .

Greatest Comedian
Booker T. Washington Calls Bert Williams “A Tremendous Asset of the Negro Race.”
He earns from ,000 to ,000 a year

If I were a dramatic critic I suppose I might give some sound logical reasons for liking Bert Wiliiams’ style and methods. But I am not a critic and vaudeville performances, as a rule, strike me as tiresome. There is so much that seems to me strained and artificial and lacking in the flavor of ordinary wholesome human nature. But Bert Williams’ humor strikes me as the real thing. There is nothing second-handed or second-rate about it. His fun seems to flow spontaneously and without effort, as if it came from some deep natural source in the man himself. Besides, there is a quality and flavor about Williams’ humor which indicates that it is the natural expression of a thoughtful and observing mind.

Source: The Denver Star, March 6, 1915, p. 1.
Colorado Statesman, September 24, 1910, p. 1.