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Throughout history, man has demanded entertainment. Greek tragedy and comedy were an important feature of ancient society, staged in impressive open-air amphitheaters. 'Entertainment' implies non-participation by the audience. A football match may be entertainment to the spectators, but it is sport to the players, and when we think of entertainment, we must exclude 'activities' such as indoor games, card playing, dice, ten-pin bowling, even amateur theatricals, because the point of all these is that we are providing our own amusement. To be 'entertained', we must be content to look, and to listen.


Modern entertainment has become a highly organized business, and in most countries, is available in bewildering variety. In a big city, every conceivable taste can be met, from cabaret to ballet, from radio and television to the opera and the circus, from the 'straight' theatre to the 'Pop Ground', from the cinema to the variety show, and from the comedian to the symphony concert.

Thinking of the average professional in the world of entertainment, one marvels that he is prepared to go on at all; his conditions are such that nobody without a vocation for entertainment would ever consider his life at all. At times, he will be working, and quite well-paid, but there will be other times when he is 'resting', that is out of work, and then he may hardly be able to buy food and shelter. Moreover, when he is in funds, he will be helping his less fortunate colleagues; the theatricals are a generous race. Eventually, age will catch up with him, but he cannot expect a pension. Those who make a lot of money tend to spend it, and few are able to live in affluence after retirement.

Furthermore the professional entertainer is exposed to many moral temptations from which most of us are spared, and he has to be of strong fibre, if he or she is to be free from the corrupting influence of some of their colleagues.




Beneath the glitter and the glamour lies hardship and heartbreak for the majority. The promoters, the managers and the impresarios are never poor men, and the entertainer becomes pathetically dependent on them -- especially when his public image is fading. But despite all this, we still have the professionals and always shall -- because the world of entertainment has an eternal, irresistible glamour. The show must go on!