About this programme

1/3. By Clifford Essex. Abridged and read by Tony Liddington. The leader of the country's last remaining pierrot troupe revisits the story of Clifford Essex, the singer and banjoist who introduced the musical genre to Britain. Reading extracts from Clifford's own memoirs, originally published in magazine format in the 1920s, Tony reveals how the Victorian entertainer came up with the idea of dressing a concert party in unusual costumes after watching a performance of L'enfant prodigue at London's Prince of Wales Theatre.