ABSTRACT
Mark Twain's development as a literary comedian was shaped by his attitude toward apprenticeship and his persistence in viewing political authority in ethical terms. The most important feature of Twain's reportorial format is its flexibility. Twain continued his own development as a writer independently of Artemus Ward. He declined an invitation to accompany Ward back to New York, though the invitation itself was a significant recognition. Ward was making decisive innovations in American humor, not only in the voice of the skeptical traveling showman—which appears more subtly in Twain's reportorial tone—but also in the lecture pose. As a literary comedian, Twain defines the world in jokes, as his comment on the mean man. He is clearly addressing the socially rising American middle class that B. P. Shillaber, John Phoenix, and the other northern literary comedians found as central to the American experience.
