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Charles Austin (comedian)
Charles Austin (born Charles Reynolds; 4 April 1878 – 14 January 1942) was an English music hall comedian. He was born in London, and started performing in music halls in 1896, initially as one half of a double act, Lytton and Austin. Inspired by the sight of a redundant police station, he developed a solo act in the character of an inept policeman, "Parker, P.C.", which he first performed at Collins's Music Hall in Islington in 1908. ''Radio Times'', Issue 522, 1 October 1933
Retrieved 8 February 2021
Austin came to be described as "The King of Cockney Humour", and, starting in 1910, he recorded a number of es as Parker P.C. With ...
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Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Variety show, variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous music hall entertainment and subsequent, more respectable variety entertainment differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within pubs during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These t ...
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BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations covering the majority of musical genres, as well as local radio stations covering local news, affairs, and interests. It also oversees online audio content. Of the national radio stations, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, 2, BBC Radio 3, 3, BBC Radio 4, 4, and BBC Radio 5 Live, 5 Live are all available through analogue radio (Medium wave, MW or FM broadcasting, FM, also BBC Radio 4 broadcasts on longwave) as well as on DAB Digital Radio and BBC Sounds. The BBC Asian Network, Asian Network broadcasts on DAB and selected AM frequencies in the English Midlands. BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 4 Extra, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, 5 Sports Extra, BBC Radio 6 Music, 6 Music and the BBC World Service, World Service broadcast only on DAB and BBC Sounds, w ...
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British Music Hall Performers
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** British Isles, an island group ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** British Empire, a historical global colonial empire ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) * British Raj, colonial India under the British Empire * British Hong Kong, colonial H ...
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1942 Deaths
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was the deadliest such year. Death toll estimates for both 1941 and 1942 range from 2.28 to 7.71 million each. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in which they agree "not to make any separate peace with the Axis powers". * January 5 – WWII: Two prisoners, British officer Airey Neave and Dutch officer Anthony Luteyn, escape from Colditz Castle in Germany. After travelling for three days, they reach the Swiss border. * January 7 – WWII: ** Battle of Slim River: Japanese forces of the 5th Division, supported by tanks, sweep through ...
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1878 Births
Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Philippopolis – Russian troops defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 23 – Benjamin Disraeli orders the British fleet to the Dardanelles. * January 24 – Russian revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, Governor of Saint Petersburg. * January 28 – In the United States: ** The world's First Telephone Exchange begins commercial operation in New Haven, Connecticut. ** '' The Yale News'' becomes the first daily college newspaper in the U.S. * January 31 – Turkey agrees to an armistice at Adrianople. February * February 2 – Greece declares war on the Ottoman Empire. * February 7 – Pope Pius IX dies, after a 31½ year pontificate (the longest definitely confirmed). * February 8 & ...
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Grand Order Of Water Rats
The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership and benevolent works (primarily within the performing industries). Its sister organisation is The Grand Order of Lady Ratlings, which includes female performers and family members. History In 1889, two British music hall performers, Joe Elvin, and Jack Lotto, owned a trotting pony called "Magpie". As the pony was a regular race winner, its owners decided that they would use the profits to help performers who were less fortunate than themselves.Charlie Chester, ''The Grand Order of Water Rats: A Legend of Laughter'' – W.H. Allen, London (1984) pg 12 One day, as Elvin was driving the pony back to its stables in the pouring rain, a passing bus driver called out, "Wot yer got there, mate?" "Our trotting pony!" replied Elvin. Observing the b ...
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It's A Cop
''It's a Cop'' is a 1934 Cinema of the United Kingdom, British police-themed comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Sydney Howard, Chili Bouchier and Garry Marsh. It was made at British and Dominions Imperial Studios, British and Dominion Elstree Studios.Wood p.78 Plot An incompetent police constable gets a lucky break and catches some thieves, earning his promotion to sergeant. Cast * Sydney Howard as PC Robert Spry * Chili Bouchier as Babette * Donald Calthrop as Charles Murray * Garry Marsh as James Risden * Annie Esmond as Mrs. Spry * Cyril Smith (actor), Cyril Smith as Lewis * John Turnbull (actor), John Turnbull as Inspector Gray * Ronald Simpson (actor), Ronald Simpson as Bates References Bibliography * Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986. External links

* 1934 films 1934 comedy films 1930s police comedy films Films directed by Maclean ...
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We'll Smile Again
''We'll Smile Again'' is a 1942 British musical film, musical comedy film directed by John Baxter (director), John Baxter and starring Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen and Meinhart Maur. Premise A ring of Nazi spies infiltrate a film studio planning to use it for sending coded messages, but they are foiled by two of the low-level staff at the studio. Cast Production It was known as ''Glamourflage'' and filming started 4 May 1942. Critical reception The ''Radio Times'' gave the film three out of five stars, and wrote "Unlike many stage, radio or television double acts who flounder when put on the big screen, Flanagan and Allen fared rather well as movie stars, and this is a typical effort, combining bright comedy with songs and human interest...Directed with no pretension by John Baxter, who made several of the duo's other popular films, it is an engaging showcase for one of Britain's best-loved song-and-comedy teams." References External links

* 1942 films British musical ...
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Hampshire Advertiser
The ''Hampshire Advertiser'' was a British local, broadsheet newspaper, based in Southampton, Hampshire. It ran from 1823 until 1940. Edward Langdon Oke (1775–1840), a corn merchant in the older part of the city (High Street), was credited with establishing the ''Hampshire Advertiser'' (previously the "Herald"). Oke, originally from Sherborne, was elected to the Town Council of Southampton and appointed Consul at Southampton for the Kingdom of Hanover by Prince Regent George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ... in 1818. References Publications disestablished in 1900 1823 establishments in England Newspapers established in 1823 Newspapers published in Hampshire {{England-newspaper-stub ...
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Double Act
A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' personalities. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases for the artists' entire careers. Double acts perform on the stage, television and film. The format is particularly popular in the UK where successful acts have included Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (Cook's deadpan delivery contrasted with Moore's buffoonery), Flanagan and Allen, Morecambe and Wise, ''The Two Ronnies'', and French and Saunders. The tradition is also present in the US with acts like Wheeler and Woolsey, Abbott and Costello, Gallagher and Shean, Burns and Allen, and Lyons and Yosco. The British-American comedy double act Laurel and Hardy has been described as the most popular in the world. Format Humor is often derived from the uneven relationship between two par ...
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Short Film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film organizations may use different definitions, however; the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, for example, currently defines a short film as 45 minutes or less in the case of documentaries, and 59 minutes or less in the case of scripted narrative films (it is not made clear whether this includes closing credits). In the United States, short films were generally termed short subjects from the 1920s into the 1970s when confined to two 35 mm reels or less, and featurettes for a film of three or four reels. "Short" was an abbreviation for either term. The increasingly rare industry term "short subject" carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short films are often s ...
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Billy Merson
Billy Merson (born William Henry Thompson; 29 March 1879 – 25 June 1947)Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.227-228 was an English music hall performer, comedian and songwriter. Biography He was born in Nottingham. He began his career while working in a lace-making factory. He performed in the evenings in a duo with Bernard Whiteman, at first as "Whiteman and Thompson - Irish Comedians and Trapeze Performers", and later as "Snakella and Travella". With Whiteman, he toured Ireland and the north of England, and appeared in pantomimes. In 1904, they changed their name to "Keith and Merson". Merson was initially an acrobat and clown, and first played in London in 1905 under the character name "Ping-Pong".Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, ''British Music Hall: A story in pictures'', Studio Vista, 1965, p.158 It took some time until he could make a living from his stage work. "For five or six years on the stage, I su ...
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