Fire the glitter cannons! Unleash the water pistols! The panto season is here. But how did the cross-dressing dame become so central to the tradition? And in an age of gender fluidity, should we still be laughing? With his thick eyebrows drawn way up high on his forehead and the tip of his nose heavily powdered with rouge, Dan Leno's Mother Goose was a sensation. A music hall celebrity, a standup comic and a champion…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:32PM on December 13, 2022