Ticklish Reuben by Cal Stewart (1902)
CD 1, track 18
From early 1902 comes “Ticklish Reuben,” a “comic monologue with piano” written and performed by Cal Stewart. Or put another way, it’s a famous laughing song—one which, as you can see by the news reportage—was causing a stir among the neighbors who had to hear it incessantly on other people’s phonographs. This is from a lesser-known cylinder version, possibly the earliest recording of the song by Stewart.
