Sober Sue: The Truth About The Girl Who Never Laughed

Authored by grunge.com and submitted by foreverunknown20
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Sober Sue: The Truth About The Girl Who Never Laughed

In 1907, the Hammerstein's Roof Garden in New York City announced they had a new performer, of sorts. Only the main draw of their new star, Sober Sue, wasn't what she would do, but what she would not do. Sober Sue, the theater claimed, was the woman who never laughed. In fact, they claimed making her grin was such an impossible feat that they offered $100 to anyone who could make the stoned-faced woman smile, and a whopping $1,000 — the equivalent of $30,542 in today's dollars — to anyone who made her laugh out loud, per History Daily.

At first, it was just amateur performers and your average funny Joes that tried to win the prize. But when they failed to make her laugh, word of Sober Sue's expressionless countenance spread, attracting the attention of professional performers and world-class stars. Comedians and performers would travel from all across the country to see if they could be the one to finally break Sober Sue. They put on their best shows, despite the fact that they were not being paid for their performances. Perhaps they thought that if they could claim to be the one who finally got Sober Sue to giggle, the publicity alone would make it all worthwhile. But nobody ever succeeded. Sober Sue never even cracked a smile. (Full disclosure: The photo above is not of Sober Sue — according to Bored Panda, no photo of her exists.)

thejewdude22 on April 2nd, 2021 at 06:33 UTC »

I was sure she was going to be deaf 😂

HorseCockInMyAnus_2 on April 2nd, 2021 at 05:48 UTC »

Wow! Everyone at my shows also suffers from this.

FaisalNova on April 2nd, 2021 at 05:30 UTC »

I believe that's what's called a "pro gamer move".