Variety Acts Of Yesteryear

[HeavyDracula]

Fellow OTFers, I come to you in search of knowledge. I’ve been having a trawl through my memories of 70s/80s variety acts, the kind seen as a turn on Little & Large or Les Dawson.

The Roly Polys (with Mo, the Mighty Atom), paper tearer Terri Carrol, tray banger Bob Blackman... but what was the name of the acrobatic troupe that used to dress in superhero costumes and dive over each other off of trampettes?

[jwdd27]

The Halfwits?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KFqhe4wXZVM&t=90s

[HeavyDracula]

Yes! Thank you!

[Stumpy Pepys]

Aren't you thinking of the Acromaniacs?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Looking at the Halfwits, they and the Acromaniacs seem to be exactly the same act.

[Sits]

That's how Rod Hull & Emu started out surely?

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Nice thread. My nan went twice to 'The Good Old Days' - made her costumes herself (I'm sure most of them did).

[johnr]

Fellow OTFers, I come to you in search of knowledge. I’ve been having a trawl through my memories of 70s/80s variety acts, the kind seen as a turn on Little & Large or Les Dawson.

The Roly Polys (with Mo, the Mighty Atom), paper tearer Terri Carrol, tray banger Bob Blackman... but what was the name of the acrobatic troupe that used to dress in superhero costumes and dive over each other off of trampettes?

I once got thrown out of the Dutch pub near Shaftesbury Avenue for doing my version of Bob Blackman's act.

[Stumpy Pepys]

I have fond memories of soap-bubble meister Tom Noddy.

[Toby Gymshorts]

I once got thrown out of the Dutch pub near Shaftesbury Avenue for doing my version of Bob Blackman's act.

De Hems? You'd probably have been the first person ever to get thrown out of there.

[wittoner]

I once got thrown out of the Dutch pub near Shaftesbury Avenue for doing my version of Bob Blackman's act.

Seems harsh, or did "my version of Bob Blackman's act" involve using someone else's head?

[Benjm]

De Hems? You'd probably have been the first person ever to get thrown out of there.

I once met someone there for the first drink of the evening. It was a terrible affront to the natural order of things.

[Benjm]

I have fond memories of soap-bubble meister Tom Noddy.

Didn't he keep a fag on the go to provide the smoke? That was a stunningly era appropriate detail.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Didn't he keep a fag on the go to provide the smoke? That was a stunningly era appropriate detail.

Yes. I thought he might have succumbed to lung cancer, but it looks like he's still performing.

He also seems to be a regular at maths and physics conferences.

[treibeis]

I once met someone there for the first drink of the evening. It was a terrible affront to the natural order of things.

The entire place is an affront to the natural order of things. That witbier they sell is even worse than the stuff in The Netherlands. I imagine that's what the end product tastes like when rugby teams do that thing where they repeatedly pour a pint down the back of their underpants and then make the fly-half drink when everybody's had their turn. Or whatever it is they do.

Thinking about it, that may have been a variety act on The Two Ronnies when they couldn't get Barbara Dixon.

[adams house cat]

The Brotherlees, or Brotherleys, or, something...

[johnr]

De Hems? You'd probably have been the first person ever to get thrown out of there.

It was there. It was my third rendition, having been asked twice to stop, so you know...

[johnr]

De Hems? You'd probably have been the first person ever to get thrown out of there.

It was there, though they had asked me twice to stop, and it was my third rendition, so fair enough...

[Benjm]

It was there, though they had asked me twice to stop, and it was my third rendition, so fair enough...

Post that once more and you're out.

[johnr]

Ha!