Scott and Whaley were an African American comedy duo who played in British music halls from 1909, settled in England, and remained popular for over thirty years.

[2] They met in 1905 and joined together as a comedy double act, working in the northern United States in touring shows including the Dark Town Swells.

Scott – but not Whaley – applied blackface make-up, with exaggerated white lips and contorted facial expressions, and performed as a stereotype of an ignorant rural simpleton.

[5][4] In their act, they engaged "in an incessant to-and-fro stream of badinage, put-downs and punning humour", and "demonstrated some of the stereotypical conceptions of blacks... such as a happy-go-lucky gregariousness, a good-humoured argumentativeness which could spill over into threats of physical aggression, a propensity to be light-fingered, an incorrigible fondness for drinking, smoking and shooting dice.. and an entrenched aversion to work."

[8] In 1941, their partnership was explored in a special radio programme on "these two famous coloured comedians who make you laugh and once had to hobo because they hadn't a penny in the world.... a story of courage, pathos, comedy, and tears.