Crescent Comedy Four, the usual comedy harmony quartet, scored high with hokum comedy. Four men, in different dress, and they dish their hoak just the way the Rialto patrons want it, but close with a poor harmony song, sending them off to nothing.
Chody-Dot and Midge, two women and a man, were a knockout in third position, having good comedy songs and piano accompaniment. The girls wore pretty gowns.
No. 2 was Knowles and Whiteman and woman, who first broke in as a new act in 1917. They work in “one” with comedy talk and songs, neither of which brought more than two laughs during their entire stay. The act isn’t there.
Jean Granese and Co. is an audience act. Miss Granese uses two “wop” plants, the frame-up resembling the Frank Sabini act and also Al Shayne turn. One of the “wops” in the Granese act has a tenor voice that suggests grand opera, and which will advance its owner rapidly when he learns how to use it properly. Right now he strains too much. Miss Granese delivers her numbers easily and with nice stage presence. Several duets with the other audience plant playing piano accompaniments stopped the show. It’s an excellent singing turn and the earlier section holds plenty of sure comedy.
Rule and O’Brien delivered a corking No. 2 and placed later would undoubtedly have nabbed a full sized hit. Most of their songs are new and all given rendition in different style than the usual. For a sample, they opened with a New Orleans number, then shot one over. For the number a flock of old tunes were dressed up in “wet” lyrics to excellent purpose. That was the true of an Irish number and it sent them out to heavy returns, the men well earning the encore.
Elsie Murphy and Eddie Klein were the hit of the show in a classy act. The male member scored on the saxophone wheel the woman knocked out a hit with new comedy songs. She has a fine voice and pretty gowns.
Emma Francis and Harold Kennedy opened the show, though listed for the closing. The turn’s billing held a third name, that of Rosewell Wright, but the latter was not present. That may have been why the routine appeared sketchy. Kennedy’s song attempts were successful only with a “souse” number about moonshine, but he showed something with his eccentric dancing. His gag anent lying down beside a drunk instead of helping him up was long ago employed by William Macart. The dancing bits of the turn were easily the best with the vigorous work of Miss Francis standing out.
Excellent bill this week; comedy and singing well divided and delivered. Will King scored again with “Your Honor” as the offering. Although ordinary janitors in a courtroom, King and Lew Dunbar as Ikey and Mike, respectively, occupy the bench during the judge’s vacation and bring laugh after laugh with their comedy.
King caused a riot of laughter when he walked into the courtroom with a cash register and placed it on the jurist’s bench. The two “jurists” then proceeded to soak everybody.
Adrian and his stage hand plants followed and kept ‘em guessing. He started slow, but when the plants walked out, one of them doing comedy, they couldn’t miss. One of the high spots of the act was one of the plants’ singing of “Broadway Rose.”
Fisher and Hurst, the man doing Hebrew character to the woman’s straight, came next. The woman possesses a crackerjack “blued” voice and she sings several snappy jazz songs, getting a good hand after each. The man has a good dialect and puts over his Jewish gags to advantage.
