Buster Keaton literally cut his teeth in vaudeville (he was a pro at the age of five), and this afternoon he returned to Manhattan's theater district. Town Hall was packed for a screening of Keaton's great film, "The Cameraman," the last film on which he had creative control. The festivities started with an hilarious Laurel and Hardy short (featuring a very young Jean Harlow). The great American clown Bill Irwin did a very funny skit with an endless pot of spaghetti that was followed by the feature. Two things made the show especially memorable--Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks played fantastic period music throughout, matching the films and Irwin's skit masterfully, and, as it was a Family Day program, there were lots of kids in attendance. A small boy sitting front of me was literally bouncing up and down in his seat, he was laughing so hard. I can think of only a couple of things in life more pleasurable than Buster Keaton on the big screen with a live orchestra in a hall filled with laughter.