Eccentric Dancer

Max soon discovered that he had a special gift for eccentric dancing and learned his craft by watching visiting American masters such as Hal Sherman, Barry Oliver and Sliding Billy Watson. After an apprenticeship in clubs, music hall and cabaret
he started working on the Continent as a speciality act and shared bills with such stars as Maurice Chevalier at the Casino de Paris and the great Swiss clown Grock - to become a major comic influence - at the Paris Empire.

His first West End appearance was in the London Revue in 1925 starring the legendary silent movie queen of cliff-hanging serials, Pearl White, at the Lyceum. As an acrobatic and
tap dancer Max still worked on the halls and began to be billed as:

`The Boy With The Obedient Feet.’ In between his strenuous dance routines, Max began to tell gags and eventually made the transition from ‘silent act’ to bill-topping comedian, with the encouragement of such celebrated performers as Layton and Johnstone.