British Variety Theatre 2

[@philipinchina]

Wonderful! Some real talent there. My grandfather owned a couple of dance halls and would have various "turns" booked. They could tour the country and by the time they had done the whole circuit the audience where they had started had forgotten their act. So they could do the same thing every nigh more or less as long as they were capable. Of course TV came along and killed all that.

[@brittakriep2938]

One of the artists had the german name Bamberger. I , german, remember a german TV Clip from 1950s/ early 1960s: Aren't you Mr. Bamberger? Where a man annoys a stranger with the question: You really aren't Mr. Bamberger?

[@paulosbourne3131]

I loved this, I remember most of these acts.

[@MARKETMAN6789]

Thank you .really enjoyed both of the videos .I remember seeing lots of these in the 50s and 60s on t v I think I love them more today than I did in them days ..thank you again for taking the time to make people like myself very happy

[@MultiNickinoo]

WOW! That man and women on the ladders "no wires" brilliant !!!

[@Stephen-eq3uh]

My late father's cousins used to run all these shows

[@vaslav030547]

Fantastic. Oh for those wonderful days back. Tanks for posting.

[@davidwhyberd7612]

Some of the music hall acts were really superb. Lily Morris used to sing comic songs with a little dance in between, as did His Elan. It is, of course, very old fashioned. The tap dancers at the beginning were superb as were many of the acts. To make it to the very top in music hall, you had to be multi talented. Max Miller was a very funny comedian who was a good singer, could dance and play the guitar. It took him years of hard slog to get there.

[@stuarthowker8158]

She was called Libby Morris not Lily Morris.

[@h54h52]

Great stuff Oliver, I wish you well..

[@kennycantor7001]

LOOKS GOOD ~ HAVE JUST BOUGHT ONE ~ I HAVE WORKED WITH MOST OF THEM ON THE CLIP ~ I MUST BE OLDER THAN I THINK

[@carriedeanna]

Love the clips. Just researching Fred Stirling-Human Marionette, performed from at least 1912 to 1920’s. Toured with a Company called the Ideals in 1912. Anyone know anything about them? Found old Newspaper Adverts.

[@davidedwards3361]

And today, we have singers dressed as street people, singing songs of 6 notes and 4 words. We have comedians that do nothing but swear, or talk about nothing but sex. We have TV personalities that make fun or people with real talent, while they themselves have non. These videos remind us of why those were "The Good Old Days".

[@margueritejohnson6407]

David Edwards Max Miller has always been one of my favourites. I regret that I wasn’t able to see him in real life.

[@lillianflorence6056]

Rubbish today,

[@steventhorson4487]

Dancing 🕺 fool

[@jsgould5392]

So much real talent back then.

[@steventhorson4487]

Hilarious

[@derycktrahair8108]

In "Variety" an Act could work for 10yrs playing the theatres. Now, ONE appearance on TV, everyone sees it, and that's it. There is nowhere to earn a living and develop an Act like these interesting people. We are left with idiots on skate boards trying to be funny for 30 secs of fame for being stupid. This is the price we pay for "Mass Entertainment".

[@calebrush3833]

I wonder who can do these now?

[@OliverDouble]

Wow, that's amazing! I'm curious, which ones did you work with? And when and where? And most importantly, WHAT WERE THEY LIKE? I love these acts, and I've only managed to see them on archive clips. Many thanks for your comment, Kenny.

[@QED_]

I have a question, please. The historical equivalent in America was "vaudeville". And, historically, it was disproportionately populated by Jewish artists. Did "variety" have some similar ethnic (or other) component (?) Thanks . . .

[@oliverdouble5522]

I didn't work with any of them - most or all here had finished their careers before I was born. BUT I did interview a number of amazing variety performers for the book, most in their 80s or 90s.

[@oliverdouble5522]

@@QED_ That was a big difference between variety and vaudeville. There were important variety performers who were Jewish or people or colour, etc. But the differences between the UK and the USA meant that variety didn't have the level of ethnic diversity that vaudeville did.

[@QED_]

@@oliverdouble5522 Thanks . . .

[@TheKirky187]

who was the man who caught the cartwheel on his head ?

[@OliverDouble]

+TheKirky187 It was Henri Vadden. There's a photo here: www.alamy.com/stock-photo-henri-vadden-holds-an-80lb-cartwheel-on-a-pole-which-he-then-places-20354465.html

[@muhammadazmi8579]

ɷ I Havee Watchedd Thissss Movieee Leakedddd Version Here : - t.co/RlKbv1hghK

[@leplessis8179]

I could do that, with me wellies on ................... But only after a few G & T's ..............and then a few more.

[@lillianflorence6056]

Today Britain got no talant

[@davidlee6720]

pity they didn't have modern music to tap to , would have been even more spectacular!