As a writer his biggest success was the farce Tons of Money which opened in 1922 and ran for more than 700 performances.

[5] For several years he toured with his father's pantomime troupe, and was part of a musical trio with his brother Fred.

[6] After his wife's death in 1897, he continued to perform as a solo comedian, specialising in farcical domestic sketches such as "Building a Chicken House", "Whitewashing the Ceiling", and "Papering a House", often with a straight man, Arthur Conquest.

[5] From 1899, he made short silent comic films, such as The Music Eccentric in which he performed acrobatics, tumbling out of and back into the frame.

[5] His most successful show as a writer was Tons of Money (1922), co-written with Valentine, which ran for 737 performances in London,[8] and was filmed in 1924[9] and again in 1930.