Triumph of the Will Lance Brown brings the cowboy-king of all media to BPAC. by CHRIS DAVIS "I gear my show to the youngest breadwinner in the audience, to people who don't know anything about the roaring '20s or the Great Depression," says Lance Brown, the musician, actor, and acclaimed Will Rogers impersonator who brings Rogers' world-renown wit, wisdom, and rope-tricks to the Bartlett Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 25th. "There are a lot of people who don't know that much about the period, who don't know Will Rogers," Brown continues. "You can teach Mark Twain as literature, but you can't really teach Will Rogers, so he's falling through the cracks. But he was our first mass-media star." Rogers was indeed America's first mass-media star, and an unlikely one at that. Born into the Cherokee nation in the last quarter of the 19th century, Rogers dropped out of school in the 10th grade and went to work as a cowboy. The cattle roping skills he had learned as a child from a freed slave would eventually earn him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records and make him a star of Wild West shows and vaudeville. While working the vaudeville circuit as a trick roper, Rogers began to tell a joke or two, and his homespun wisdom and gentle but edgy humor made him a favorite with crowds. At the time of his death in 1935, Rogers had 71 movies to his credit, two books, and 4,000 syndicated newspaper columns. Given his countless performances with the high-kicking and provocatively clad Ziegfield Follies girls, it might be said that Rogers was the Howard Stern of his day. "Well, I doubt if he would have ever hosted any big butts or big boobs contests," Brown says of the Stern analogy. "And Will never attacked anybody personally like Imus or Rush Limbaugh. Will was gentle with his criticisms and his humor. He spoke against institutions, but never against people, for example, "This year we graduated 30,000 students in the field of law. It's going to take a heck of a lot of crime to support that bunch." Rogers was widely known for his folksy sayings, and quotable aphorisms. From his credo "I never met a man I didn't like" to social commentary like "We'll hold the distinction of being the only nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poorhouse in an automobile," his wit rings as true today as it did 80 years ago. But Brown doesn't just recite the litany of Rogers' famous sayings; he applies the Rogers principle to current events. For instance, when discussing today's booming economy, Brown reminds us of the economic boom which occurred right before the Great Depression, saying, "Well, as best I can remember the stock market breaks records every day, and everybody has this feeling that this prosperity will never end. Of course, we are much better off now than we were in 1929 in terms of safeguards. For instance, you can't get the windows open in the skyscrapers these days. "Just the other night," Brown says sadly, "I was watching that show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. Well, they asked, "Who said, 'I never met a man I didn't like?' -- and the fellow missed it. He guessed Mae West." Brown sighs, adding, "Of course, that was as good a guess as any." When asked if he ever met a man he didn't like, Brown falls totally silent. It is an uncomfortable silence. Time passes, he's hoping I will skip to the next question, but I don't. "W-well," he stutters, cautiously avoiding the question. "There was only one Will Rogers," he chuckles at length, quickly adding, "but I try to follow that principle. [Rogers'] famous saying isn't too far removed from an idea that can be found in all of the great religions: 'Love thy neighbor,' from the Bible, and then there is the Buddhist principle of loving kindness." "Yes, of course, the sentiment is a lovely one," I assert, but the question stands. "Have you, Lance Brown, ever met a man that you didn't like?" Once again Brown artfully dodges my silver bullet. "I'm sure there were people who Will Rogers grew to dislike." he answers, covering his fanny without tarnishing Rogers' sterling reputation as a benevolent gregarian. "The point was that when he first met people it was without prejudice, without judgment. " "But have you ever met a man you didn't like?" "Yes," he says finally, sounding more than a bit disappointed in himself. "Yes, I have."