VAN AND CORBETT AT KEITH'S

Prohibition is still a popular source for vaudeville quips. Last night at Keith's the billtoppers, Billy B. Van and James A. Corbett, had the house with both hands in their skit. "The Eighteenth Amendment", and Percy Bronson and Winnie Baldwin presented a one-act fantasy, picturing the effect of a bottle of scotch on the young man of 1971. Nor did others neglect the opportunity for occasional dry humor.

Corbett is still the same old Jim, tall, well-tailored and wearing the same impenetrable face. He forms a perfect foil for the antics of his partner, his eloquent speech on the eighteenth amendment being completely lost in the gales of merriment aroused by the contortions of Van, as the latter attempts to tell his "red" joke.

After the moonshine acts perhaps the most appealing feature was Mattylee Lippard, who sang a few songs, "As Is and As Was", danced appropriately, and toyed with a saxaphone. She was heartily applauded. Peggy Parker, assisted by Eddie Buzzell, appeared in a cheerful sketch involving a will, a widow and a few tunes. Jack Osterman showed his inimitable gift of entertaining an audience without doing anything in particular and Ethel MacDonough gave a brief series of monologues setting forth a typical day of a lady of fashion. The Balliot trio did a bit of clever juggling.

The "Princess Radjah", with her famous "Cleopatra" dance, accompanied by a seven-foot snake, furnished a sufficiently thrilling curtain-piece. There was but one regret; that Billy B. Van didn't get a chance to finish that joke about the girl in Paris.