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E. H. Williams' Merrie Men
Fascinating fragments of a typical Victorian seaside entertainment
Overview
EH Williams' Merrie Men were a large troupe of seaside entertainers working in the popular Welsh resort at Rhyl. These two fragments of film represent a rare glimpse of such an act in progress, with a comic schoolroom sketch and a soft-shoe shuffle courtesy of dancers Jimmy Charters and Fred Egan, accompanied by a large band. The racist minstrel tradition dates back to the slavery era in the American south. Imported from the US around the mid-19th century, minstrel shows became very popular in Britain. Such shows generally featured white performers, in exaggerated 'blackface' make-up, portraying people of African descent and performing caricatured Black American songs, dances, comic sketches and drama.
Acts would follow a set pattern. After a 'walkaround' of the whole troupe doing a 'cakewalk', there was the 'olio', a variety section featuring the interlocutor and the 'endmen', who flanked the other performers and whose function was to keep up a comic patter during the show. The act would usually conclude with a drama.
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