Chalk talk

A chalk talk (aka chalk-talk) was a popular act in vaudeville. A performer used chalk on a blackboard to make changes in a drawing while delivering a monologue. Some performers would do caricatures of audience members. The term also was used to describe an act done with crayons. The term became ingrained in the language to the extent that a performance using markers and a sketch pad is still known today as a chalk talk.

Winsor McCay began doing vaudeville chalk talks in 1906. In his The Seven Ages of Man vaudeville act, he drew two faces and progressively aged them. Popular Illustrator Vernon Grant was also known for his vaudeville circuit chalk talks.

The chalk talk format again gained notoriety in the 2000s in television advertisements for United Parcel Service. Andy Azula, the creative director for The Martin Agency, starred in a series of UPS advertisements in which he draws on a whiteboard.

Animation
Chalk talks formed the basis for early animated films, as seen in the films of J. Stuart Blackton and "Komikal Konjurer" Alfred E. Smith.