Not currently on display at the V&A

Poster

1925 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Poster advertising a revue, Mottoes, at the Hippodrome, Newcastle, 1925, featuring Sam Mayo.

Born Sam Cowan in Lambeth, London, in 1881, Mayo made his first appearance at a Sunday morning concert at the Victoria Club in the Blackfriars Road. He first appeared in music hall in 1898 at the Alhambra, Sandgate. He often wore a dressing gown and motoring cap, and sang comic songs including ‘She Cost Me Seven and Sixpence’ and ‘I’ve Only Come Down for the Day’. He was frequently billed as ‘The Immobile One’ because of his trick of standing still on stage with a lugubrious expression on his face while singing the songs.

Mayo went on to tour with his own revues, and appear in variety and pantomime. A review of his act heading the variety bill at the Theatre Royal, Aldershot, in June 1931 called him: 'The inimitable Sam Mayo, one of England's best-known comedians and humorists' [sic], adding: 'Part of Sam's charm is his pained expression while he sings the most funny songs, playing his own accompaniments on a grand piano.'


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Printing ink on paper
Brief description
Poster advertising a revue, Mottoes, at the Hippodrome, Newcastle, 1925
Physical description
Typographic poster with blue and red lettering advertising a revue
Dimensions
  • Poster height: 89.2cm
  • Poster width: 28.8cm
Object history
Associated Production: Mottoes. Devised by: Sam Mayo. Performers: Sam Mayo, Dorothy Meade, Jack Latham, Binnie Ash, Dorothy Darlington, W.E. Matthews, Josie Kavanagh, Arthur Martyn, The Sixteen Motto Maids. Hippodrome, Newcastle. 7.9.1925. Performance category: revue.
Summary
Poster advertising a revue, Mottoes, at the Hippodrome, Newcastle, 1925, featuring Sam Mayo.

Born Sam Cowan in Lambeth, London, in 1881, Mayo made his first appearance at a Sunday morning concert at the Victoria Club in the Blackfriars Road. He first appeared in music hall in 1898 at the Alhambra, Sandgate. He often wore a dressing gown and motoring cap, and sang comic songs including ‘She Cost Me Seven and Sixpence’ and ‘I’ve Only Come Down for the Day’. He was frequently billed as ‘The Immobile One’ because of his trick of standing still on stage with a lugubrious expression on his face while singing the songs.

Mayo went on to tour with his own revues, and appear in variety and pantomime. A review of his act heading the variety bill at the Theatre Royal, Aldershot, in June 1931 called him: 'The inimitable Sam Mayo, one of England's best-known comedians and humorists' [sic], adding: 'Part of Sam's charm is his pained expression while he sings the most funny songs, playing his own accompaniments on a grand piano.'
Collection
Accession number
S.44-1994

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Record createdJuly 23, 2010
Record URL
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