The strip clubs alternated the strippers with comedy acts and some of Britain’s finest performers got their start in these venues, among them Harry Secombe. In the Army during the war, performing for the troops, Secombe had developed a comedy routine in which he would dash onstage apologising to the audience: “Sorry I’m late I haven’t even shaved yet.” Then he would begin to shave, imitating a whole range of people so that by the end of his act the stage was awash with soapy water and the audience was roaring with laughter. In 1946, he auditioned his shaving act at the Windmill. Harry was given a three-month contract and was able to turn professional. It was at the Windmill that he met the comedian Michael Bentine, who in turn introduced him to Spike Milligan. After sharing the stage with mostly naked girls, Secombe went out on the road in variety but his act was not always well received by theatre owners; when one of them paid him off after the show he said: “You’ll not work my theatre again. In future you’ll shave in your own time and not in mine!”
See the full article from “Times Online”
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