Dan Leno's Attempt to Master the Cycle
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On yer bike, Dan!
Comedian Dan Leno (1860-1904) was a major star of the Victorian theatre, who died too young to make a significant contribution to films. He was short, with a wide grin, a conspicuous part in his hair, and broadly comic features. Like Milton Berle, Leno was most notorious for his grotesque female impersonations ... but (also like Berle) Leno was too versatile to be typecast as merely a drag act. Much of Leno's career took place at the Drury Lane Theatre in London, and a popular legend asserts that Leno's ghost still haunts the theatre site.
Leno made several crude silent films which were distributed by the Warwick Trading Company Ltd. Leno was noted for his verbal delivery, which regrettably could not be preserved on film during his lifetime. "Dan Leno's Attempt to Master the Cycle" is a slapstick routine, depicting Leno (not in drag) attempting to ride a bicycle. Even in this crude format, his physical skills are astonishing, and quite funny. He appears to have been an influence on Lupino Lane, the great acrobatic comedian of a generation later. Leno's early death was indeed a great loss to comedy.
Leno made several crude silent films which were distributed by the Warwick Trading Company Ltd. Leno was noted for his verbal delivery, which regrettably could not be preserved on film during his lifetime. "Dan Leno's Attempt to Master the Cycle" is a slapstick routine, depicting Leno (not in drag) attempting to ride a bicycle. Even in this crude format, his physical skills are astonishing, and quite funny. He appears to have been an influence on Lupino Lane, the great acrobatic comedian of a generation later. Leno's early death was indeed a great loss to comedy.
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- F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
- Nov 30, 2002
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