Fred Karno

Common card · No. 332394

Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1866 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English vaudeville impresario of the British music hall. As a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularizing the custard-pie-in-the-face gag. During the 1890s, in order to circumvent stage censorship, Karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue. Early sketches such as Jail Birds (1895), in which prisoners play tricks on warders, and Early Birds (1899), showing the poverty and realities of London's East End poor, can be seen as precursors of silent movie comedy. His innovative 1904 sketch Mumming Birds, produced for the Hackney Empire in London, became the longest-running sketch the music halls produced. Many of his comics subsequently worked in film and used Karno material throughout their work. Film producer Hal Roach stated: "Fred Karno is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him." Among the music hall...

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