Benchley held a number of similar jobs in the following years. His re-entry into public speaking followed the annual Harvard–Yale football game in 1914, where he presented a practical joke involving "Professor Soong" giving a question-and-answer session on football in Chinese. In what the local press dubbed "the Chinese professor caper," Soong was played by a Chinese-American who had lived in the United States for over thirty years, and pretended to answer questions in Chinese while Benchley "translated." While his public profile rose, Benchley continued with freelance work, which included his first paid piece for "Vanity Fair" in 1914, titled "Hints on Writing a Book," a parody of the non-fiction pieces then popular. While Benchley's pieces were bought by "Vanity Fair" from time to time, his consistent work dried up, and he took a position with the "New York Tribune".