The Hard Boiled Egg And The Wasp

Dan Leno (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), was the greatest comedian of the English music hall. From 1886 to his death in 1904 he was immensely popular, pioneering the style of stand-up comedy which held sway until the gag-men of the 1930s took over.

The Hard Boiled Egg and the Wasp is set in1904. Dan Leno has been confined to a lunatic asylum by his wife. Fellow inmates include Queen Victoria, Napoleon, Catherine the Great and two men who think they’re Jesus. Even music hall legend George Robey makes an appearance as a young rival. Dan Leno faces life-threatening surgery to cure him of his appalling headaches but maybe he’s not mad; maybe he’s just no longer funny.