VAUDEVILLE MEMORIES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 357, 26 April 1946, Page 15

VAUDEVILLE MEMORIES

MO’S MEMOIRS, 1945. Reed and Harris, Melbourne. ReY RENE ("Mo") who, when Fuller’s vaudeville was in its heydey, often visited New Zealand either as a solo comedy act, or with his partner "Stiffy" (Nat Phillips) in a double turn, has gathered up a host of stage anecdotes. A ghost writer and a member of the publishing firm have also dipped fingers in this ham-and-egg pie, and the result is a 200-page book. The publishers yo so far as to call Rene a "national figure," and certainly he was funny. His stage clothes were funny, he said and did funny things, often doubling up even his fellow-artists with laughter, and those who remember vaudeville in this country will remember him as a_ white-faced, black-bearded exponent of innuendo and facial expression. While there is some excuse in such memoirs for a high incidence of the first person singular, it is worthy of note that "Mo" also credits some other comedians with the ability to make people laugh. Still, to use his own words, "They say I am the nearest thing to Chaplin. I can have them rolling in the aisles, and then do a little quiet recitative and you can hear a pin drop. . ."

As a recollection of days that are gone, Mo’s Memoirs (which are prefaced by Sir Ben Fuller, and Wallace R: Parnell, who was until recently general manager | and producer for the Tivoli circuit in Australia) will be of interest to those who remember him in the flesh. For those who don’t there are nearly 40 photographs-most of them showing the comedian in characteristic stances. As a book it may not be memorable contribution to Australian letters (or Australian printing), but -vaudeville has had many less enthusiastic epitaphs.