3.3.1
There are fifty listings of variety artists and others through 1923. (I will cease this categorising of variety artists from the start of 1924, and then comment only on those I find relevant.) This category is a catch-all really, including monologues, the 'elocutionist', the 'entertainer', sketches, impressions, the 'dramatic and humorous recital', and what comes from the variety bill. There are a couple of more serious items here (Miss Madge Titheradge reciting 'Song of England' by Alfred Noyes, and Dickins). None of the 1922 artists (Billy Beer, Helen Mar, Helena Millais and A. Stainer) appeared again in 1923. I have included this detailed analysis because it shows, along with the relays of plays, musicals and operas, what provoked the boycott against the B.B.C. (from 27 April 1923). Also it gives some notion of the context of the earliest broadcast drama pieces. And finally, regional Stations (Birmingham and Manchester) began with variety before they expanded into drama. The full list of variety items broadcast in 1923 is in the appendix.
3.3.2
The best known artists were the following:
(No 5 on the list) - Friday 19 January 1923 2LO 6.30-6.50
Mr. George Robey and Miss Alma Adair in a "Wireless rehearsal" of items in the new revue "You'd be surprised"
'The Times' listing is:
Mr. George Robey and Miss Alma Adair in a "Wireless rehearsal" of items in the new revue "You'd be surprised" (19 January 1923 p.8); and B.B.C. Records vol 1 p 5 gives 'George Robey and Alma Adair'. This revue started at Covent Garden on 27 January 1923 and ran till 14 April 1922 (100 performances) and then at the Alhambra for another 270 performances.
It could – just perhaps – be claimed that this was another example of a radio drama or radio performance piece broadcast before the 16 February 1923 'Scenes from Shakespeare', if a sketch or sketch material was included in their material. But it obvously comes into the category of variety and Mr. George Robey and Miss Alma Adair were on air gaining publicity for what turned out to be a very successful production in the economic context of 1923, and for the management of Sir Oswald Stoll. Alma Adair was an actress and singer, and 'You'd Be Surprised' is her one listing in Wearing for 1920-9. The show was a 'spectacular revue' and a 'jazzaganza' (MacQueen-Pope, 1959, 110).
George Robey (1869-1954) had starred in the 1922 successful musical, 'Round In 50' at the London Hippodrome (16 March 1922 – 16 December 1922, 469 performances). Charles Cochrane, the impresario, described George Robey as one of the very few comedians who caused the audience to laugh 'as soon as the number of his turn went up, before his entrance' (Cochrane, 1941, 161). Stanley Lupino described him as 'to me the finest exponent of timing a laugh' (Lane, 1934, 43). His catch phrases included 'My word, if I catch you bending!' and 'Swish!'. He was one of the great pre-WW1 Music Hall artists still performing.
3.3.3
(No. 10 on list)
Thurs 22 February 1923
6.0 Stanley Lupino (in 'The Times' and the B.B.C. Programme Record)
As Stanley Lupino proudly explains in his autobiography, 1923 was a great year for his whole showbiz family – himself in 'From Dover Street to Dixie' (or 'Phi Phi' as he calls it), the revue at the London Pavilion (31 May 1923 – 1 September 1923, 108 performances), Barry Lupino with George Robey in 'Round In 50' and Lupino Lane at the Oxford in 'The League of Notions' (Lupino, 1934, 95). Lupino's is another autobiography that does not mention the B.B.C.
3.3.4
(No 29 on list)
Wednesday 25 April 1923 7.15-7.30
Potash and Perlmutter from the Garrick Theatre in a farcical dialogue (in studio)
The American comedy 'Partners Again' was at the Garrick (28 February 1923 – 14 July 1923, 159 performances), and the characters Mawruss Perlmutter and Abe Potash were played by Robert Leonard and Philip White, American vaudevillians. They had achieved an instant hit in London as these characters in 1914, and again in 1917 and 1920 (Parker, 1939, 973; MacQueen-Pope, 1959, 106).
3.3.5
Variety and the Birmingham and Manchester Stations
I have already mentioned the importance of the 'big six' - Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast (Introduction 2.2.7). Victor Smythe in Manchester was already establishing a lead outside London, both in a visit to Birmingham and taking part in a humorous sketch, 'The Affable Stranger' (nos 37 and 38, 7 July 1923), and at Manchester, 'Mr Victor Smythe and the Station Staff in a new Radio Sketch by Mr. Guy Reeve' (no 41, 21 July 1923). Birmingham booked 'Mr David Hamilton (character actor)' four times, and has eleven listings, though no producer is named for all this; and Stuart Vinden, wireless actor-director, did not start work there until February 1925. Percy Edgar, who was a leading actor in the Birmingham station and especially in the plays of John Overton (real name Kathleen Baker), made his debut on 22 December 1923, in scenes from Dickens' 'The Christmas Carol' (no 50). The list of variety broadcasts for both Birmingham and Manchester is in the appendix.
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