A few months ago I found a collection of ephemera on EBay about a husband and wife music hall /variety duo called Revill and Syd. It featured contracts, letters etc covering roughly ten years of their careers. I dithered for some time about buying it as the material covered the 1930s which is not my usual interest but I finally took the plunge and ended up with a fascinating personal record of a decade in the life of two performers.

Sydney Livock and Ethel Oliver were married in 1917 and first appeared on music hall bills in 1918 in this country as The South African Comedy Couple, Revill and Syd. They provided ‘wit, funny duets and eccentric novelty dances.’ Syd was often addressed as Syd Revill in correspondence but I have no clue as to why that name was chosen for a husband and wife act. Things seemed to be going well and they were getting work around the country, winning praise as a sparkling comedy duo with real clever wit and expert dancing. They pop up in the Era as supporting acts to Florence Yayman, Dusty Rhodes and Lily Morris. In 1920 they are no longer the new kids on the block and have become the novelty comedy duo. An advert for the Walsall Grand misspells Revill despite billing them as wonderful dancers. They continue to travel and perform but ominous mention of films on advertising matter showed which way public tastes were going.

We come to the 1930s, a time of recession, high unemployment, reduced wages and eventually, war. Revill and Syd were still performing, using many different agents and accepting short contracts to keep the wolf from the door. By 1930 they were living at 43 Edithna Road, Brixton, London. A letter chased them round the country from J Gladwin’s Theatrical Agency but it did not contain good news. ‘ Owing to the state of the business they are now playing the acts 3 times daily. Everybody has agreed to play so I am asking if you would agree to play the 18 shows as usual contract.’ More work for the same pay which ‘everybody’ has agreed to. In December 1930 the tax man wanted fuller particulars of their earnings including a ‘detailed statement of how you arrive at your expenses figure.’

A contract from April 1930 was for an appearance at the Lido, Manchester, covering three days in May at a salary of £8. The artistes were not permitted to appear at any place of public entertainment within a radius of six miles of the Lido for eight weeks prior to and during this engagement. Another contract for the Park Palace, Liverpool, made it clear that performers were to supply ‘free of charge’ printed matter ‘all properly headed and dated’. In 1931 while at the Palace, Chatham, Mr S T Revill received a copy of an order from a printer which totalled £4 9s 6d. There was also agent’s commission to pay at 10% or 12.5% as well as travel expenses and board and lodging.

We leave Revill and Syd at a this difficult point in their career where work is harder to come by and they know from friends in the business they are not alone. The next blog will follow them through the 1930s and then, thanks to the British Newspaper Archive, we can look beyond that decade to a change of focus.

Thanks to the Monomania Collection and the British Newspaper Archive