St. George's Hotel, Hull
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The Saint George's Hotel, Hull, is a public house located in the a residential area in the west of the city of Kingston upon Hull.
Known locally as simply 'The George', the pub has seen many licencees come and go since it opened at the turn of the last century, yet two most memorable landladies were the formidable Clarice Mack, and local entertainer Bobby Mandrell, who was dubbed as 'Hull's Most Glamourous Landlady' - this being a reference to Bobby Mandrell's career as a female impersonator.
In recent years the pub ahas seen a sad downturn in its popularity and appearance and the two of which are firmly linked.
Whilst under the glamorous eye of Bobby Mandrell, the pub saw a sharp rise in popularity with the lounge full to capacity Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights of the week. A quiz night was hosted every Thursday in the lounge, with novelty camp prizes to be won. Friday night's would see Bobby and resident drag dj Krystal take to the stage as comedy duo 'Heirs and Graces', whilst Sunday night would host out-of-town drag acts on stage such as Lee Starr, Damaged Goods, French-born Etienne. Saturday night, however, was the icing on the cake as Bobby Mandrell took to the stage with his trademark glitzy show, which featured a range of costume changes, comedy sketches, playful banter with the audience and would also close the show with a variety of audience particpation sing-along songs.
During the stewardship of Bobby Mandrell, a small group of regular customers got together to form an amateur act, called The Saint George's Ladyboyz, who performed a variety of fast paced routines, ballads, comedy sketches and numerous audience particpation sketches. The shows were performed once a month and the fee was donated by the act to a number of local charities. Although there was something of a revolving door to the group's personnel, the act remained popular and lasted for eighteen months, steadily gaining in confidence, experience and professionalism.