The Girl Who Never Laughed!

What's up friends?!

Today I strike back with some more trivial information, specifically with the story of Sober Sue also known as the girl that couldn't laugh.

Our story begins sometime in the summer of 1907 at Hammerstein's Roof Garden, above the Victoria Theater in New York City. One of the performers was Sober Sue aka the girl who never laughed.

1907sobersue.jpg
source

Her routine? She pretty much just standed there doing nothing but there was a twist. Anyone who would make her laugh would earn a price of 100 USD which I guess was a really big sum of money for back then.

Apparently all kinds of popular comedians and other performers tried their best but with no luck. It was just impossible to get through her.

Some assumed she was deaf or dumb or whatever but eventually the truth came out when her run was finished.

In reality her facial muscles were paralyzed which infuriated some of the top-rank comedians who essentially gave a free performance in an effort to make the girl laugh...or at least smile :D

Today we don't know much about Sober Sue. Her real name was Susan Kelly and she got paid 20 $ per week. And that's pretty much it. No photo, no age, no nothing.

She might have suffered by Mobius Syndrome, a rare congenital neurological disorder which is characterized by facial paralysis and the inability to move the eyes from side to side. But that's just a theory.

And that's pretty much the story of the girl that couldn't laugh! Essentially a simple yet effective scum that attracted many big names of the time and convinced them to give a free performance for the attending audience!

References

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They should have asked if she had any health conditions that prevented her from smiling no matter what year it was.
I guess she smiled internally when listening to some of the comedians, she lacked sincerity, one of them must have won.

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How is that a scam? Anyone who comes from New York (😁) would know it was a gimmick. The comedians weren't even asked for money, apparently.

The deal was to make her smile...and they didn't. End of story :))

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Umm that's first time heard of such syndrome..wonder if she wasn't able to laugh or also couldn't express any other emotions at all?

Ah, those poor comedians... honestly comedians jokes are bit too cringe these days I never laugh at those..

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Sad, but back then $20 was a fair amount of money, but not rich by any means. It sure sounds like Mobius Syndrome, a horrible disorder to have to live with.

Interesting story, thanks!
!DOOK
!LOL

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I guess they got scammed and it sucks that we never got to know why she couldn't laugh. At least it's an interesting story and I feel bad for the people who gave a performance.

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Ohhh, the amount of money her managers made off her😂😂😂

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Oh no! I wonder why they would still do that. I felt pity for the girl. 😔

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Well at least she made some money :p

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I think she should have invited her neighbors to these shows and charged a small fee for it, you could have made a fortune, a very clever fight against boredom :) !VSC

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