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[[George Formby]] [[Knight Fever|OBE]] was a [[Oop North|Lancastrian]] singer-songwriter, comic and film star who had his biggest hits in [[The Thirties]]. Real name George Hoy Booth, he inherited the stage name from his father, who was a music hall comic. He often mixed comedy into his songs together with a healthy dose of [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]. His signature musical instrument was the ukulele, or 'uke' for short.
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{{creatortropes}}
* [[Chinese Launderer]]: Mr Wu started out as owning a Chinese Laundry in Limehouse (a district of London where many Chinese immigrants settled in the 19th and early 20th centuries and where such laundries were associated with) but later moved on to greater things.
* [[Dawson Casting]]: Referenced in "The Window Cleaner":
{{quote|
''She looks a [[The Flapper|flapper]] on the screen''
''She's more like eighty than eighteen!''
''When I'm cleaning windows!'' }}
* [[Double Entendre]]: Constantly. Probably the most blatant examples are in "With My Little Ukulele In My Hand" and "With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock". The latter was actually ''banned by [[The BBC]]'' in 1937 for its suggestive lyrics.
* [[Fair for Its Day]]: The "Mr Wu" songs have some dodgy lyrics for today, but at the time nobody else would have made songs about a Chinese immigrant--at least not portraying him in a sympathetic light. Especially noteworthy as the original "Mr Wu" was a [[Yellow Peril]] villain from a play in the 1910s who was taken up as a recurring character in music hall; Formby used the name for the recognition, but not much else.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Legendarily so. For example, in "The Window Cleaner":
{{quote|
You'd be surprised they things they do, when I'm cleaning windows
The blushing bride she looks divine, the bridegroom he is doing fine
I'd rather have his job than mine, when I'm cleaning windows!" }}
* [[Inherently Funny Words]]: One reason why he often mentioned his ukulele in the words of his songs.
* [[Last-Second Word Swap]] and [[Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion]]: Fond of using these.
{{quote|
You ought to see it wobble when he's ironing ladies'...blouses" }}
** Another example:
{{quote|
The wife said "Where've you been?" and I said "You can go to...bed!" }}
* [[I Meant to Do That]]: "Sitting On The Ice In The Ice Rink" is based on this trope--it's George insisting that, no, he hasn't fallen while skating, he ''likes'' sitting on the ice in the ice rink with his skates on.
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* [[Sequel]]: Many of his songs have sequels, most notably the 'Mr Wu' series.
* [[Sound Effect Bleep]]: One of the first to do the musical version:
{{quote|
But up to now it's been like h('''LOUD NOTE''')! Mother what'll I do now?" }}
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[[Category:George Formby]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriter]]
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