Charlie Clapham, born in
Birmingham, was a barrister's clerk working in London, and amateur performer, who turned professional in 1919 after serving in the
First World War. He met London-born Bill Dwyer, who was a commercial traveller and semi-professional entertainer from a
show business family, and they began working together at
garden parties in 1925. An early engagement was a performance in front of the
Duke and
Duchess of York. After auditioning the following year, and having to improvise nonsense as they had not brought any songs to sing, they made their first broadcast on
BBC radio. They were the first comedy
double act to become famous on British radio, and continued to broadcast regularly through the 1920s and 1930s. Dwyer was the
straight man, and Clapham - with
monocle and moustache - was the fool. As a stage act from 1928, they appeared in venues all over the country. In 1935, they were banned by BBC radio for several months for allegedly broadcasting an improper joke. In 1946, the chairman of the
Board of Governors of the BBC,
Lord Inman, objected to one of their broadcast jokes – "When I got into my hotel bedroom last night, I found a lady's nightdress on the bed, and I rang the bell." "What for - to ask them to take it away?" "No - to ask them to fill it." As a result, the BBC established its
Green Book, setting out the subjects, words, phrases and songs that should not be broadcast. == References ==