After six months of searching for a partner, she enrolled in stenography school to learn to be a secretary.
Partnership with Burns
In 1923, Allen's roommate took her to see an act performed by Billy Lorraine and George Burns, whose real name was Nathan Birnbaum, son of immigrant Orthodox Jewish parents. Burns and Allen decided to work together, first performing in Newark, New Jersey, for $5 a day. At first, Burns played the comedian and Allen the "straight man," feeding Burns the straight lines, to which he would respond with the punch lines. Allen, however, got all the laughs. Eventually the act was changed so that Burns was the straight man and Allen the comedian. Allen played a type of character known as a "Dumb Dora," or "dizzy dame." According to Burns, in his book, Gracie: A Love Story, "What made Gracie different was her sincerity. She didn't try to be funny. Gracie never told a joke in her life, she simply answered the questions I asked her as best she could, and seemed genuinely surprised when the audience found her answers funny.
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