Robert Charles Benchley was born on September 15th, 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Benchley wrote over 600 essays and is a humorist best known for his work for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. These essays, which ranged from topical to the absurdist, influenced many modern humorists. His humor was obvious from the time he attended Harvard University and was a writer for Harvard Lampoon. Benchley seemed to have an effortless way of creating humour and was equally famous for his work writing and appearing in short films, feature films and radio work. He was also a founder of the famous Algonquin Round Table at the New York hotel. This group, including Benchley, Dorothy Parker and George S Kaufman expanded to over a dozen regular members who met for lunch on an almost daily basis between 1919 and 1929. They dubbed themselves The Vicious Circle. The group first gathered in the Algonquin's Pergola Room later called the Oak Room at a long rectangular table. As the gatherings increased in n