CANE CARRIERS Comedy star W .C. Fields , was beyond all question, the most exceptional talent of all time in the varied uses of a cane. He strolled forth with staid dignity on the finer avenues with stylish folk in his company. He also used the cane - or "walking sick" as it was sometimes called in his day, as a valued aid to make his type of comedy seem authentic.
His walk could appear to be a smart swagger if he wished it to be so, or it could be a bumbling mis-adventurer if he chose to be seen in that light. He used it as if it were an additional arm, leg or lever which he could manipulate to change the world about himself to his liking or the setting for his type of comedy.
My career with a cane started when a young doctor asked me to simply
walk down the corridor just outside his office. I did. He put a blindfold eye mask on me and asked me to repeat the walk. I did not. I guessed about which direction to go but after three steps or so I was still. He then suggested that I look up at the ceiling and try the same walk. No go. Back a his desk he talked about neural receptors and showed me how I was visually checking out every step I took. My receptors needed more information and I could provide such information. To help improve that situation I had a choice to make . I waited a moment, thinking all manner of fearful consequences, I suppose, and he popped the question "Which would you prefer - a "cane" or a "walker".
I went with "cane" because "walkers" seemed to me to be for older people.
I had a fine cane at home - a hand-made one - and it became part of me that very day.
I have never regretted that moment in any way.
Andrew McCaskey
amccsr@adelphia.net 5-28-06 [c336wds]
