The Lion and Albert

Story

Young Albert visits Blackpool with his parents but makes the mistake of antagonising Wallace the lion.

Why we chose it

A classic dramatic monologue that is great fun to perform

Where it came from

Marriot Edgar’s family were a theatre troupe and he himself toured as a pantomime dame. In 1929 he worked on a show with Stanley Holloway. Stanley Holloway was well known for performing comic poetic monologues in a northern accent and Marriot Edgar wrote a number for him including The Lion and Albert. The lion was called Wallace after the first lion to be bred in Britain and the monologue was inspired by an actual newspaper report about a boy who was eaten by a lion at Blackpool Zoo.

Where it went next

Recordings of Stanley Holloway’s monologues were popular and sold well throughout the 1960s and 70s. The Lion and Albert was the most iconic. There is even a pub in Blackpool called The Albert and the Lion. It was so popular that Edgar wrote a number of further monologues for Holloway featuring Albert Ramsbottom.

The Lion and Albert has been performed many times by other entertainers and in 1991 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a series of programmes with well-known comedians performing Marriot’s monologues, including Thora Hird, Les Dawson, Roy Hudd, Bernie Clifton and Roy Castle.

Associated stories

Other Marriot Edgar monologues include Aggie the Elephant, The Magna Charta, The Battle of Hastings, and The Return of Albert.