"I enjoyed the courtroom as just another stage but not so amusing as Broadway"

Mae West's statement, "I enjoyed the courtroom as just another stage but not so amusing as Broadway", captures her irreverent wit and profound understanding of performance, both in art and in life. West, an iconic actress and playwright known for her boldness and sharp humor, cleverly compares the courtroom, a place where legal fates are settled, to the theater, a space of make-believe, spectacle, and audience engagement. For West, every public arena offers its own form of drama, with participants taking on roles, performing for an audience, and adhering to scripts, whether written by judges or playwrights.

Her experience in court, likely stemming from her run-ins with authority over her provocative works, becomes less an ordeal and more a variation of her professional milieu. West signals that, to her, all public life has elements of performance, where one's demeanor, delivery, and persona influence outcomes. The courtroom becomes "just another stage", implying its rituals are not so different from those of Broadway, both demand presence, charisma, and a bit of acting.

However, the comparison is not entirely tongue-in-cheek. West adds that the courtroom isn’t as "amusing" as Broadway, delineating an important distinction: while both spaces rely on drama, the stakes and the consequences are far more serious in a court of law. The amusement and creative freedom she enjoys on Broadway, crafting jokes and enthralling audiences, contrast sharply with the formality, tension, and often punitive atmosphere of legal proceedings. In court, the script is dictated by law and precedent, not by artistic whim, and the audience, a judge or jury, is not there for entertainment.

Through this witty comparison, Mae West highlights her resilience and adaptability, able to treat even adversity with the detachment and self-awareness of an accomplished performer. She acknowledges life’s unavoidable dramas, finding humor in them, but never forgetting that some settings, courtrooms in particular, lack the joys and freedoms of the stage.