I was amused to read about the adult pantomime at the old Co-Op Hall in London Road in the Seventies starring Jimmy Wheeler and Mrs Shufflewick (Rex Jameson) (Letters, November 5).

Gerald Oxley was correct when he said the police closed the show down after only two days.

Fortunately, I was able to see it, despite being only 16 and having just left school (Patcham-Fawcett).

It was the first time I had seen Mrs Shufflewick who, although obviously in "her" cups, was absolutely hilarious.

Little did I know some five years later I would become Rex Jameson's agent until his untimely death in l981, aged just 54.

He was a great variety artist with an immaculate sense of timing and often played Brighton.

Later, I was also to become the agent for another great female impersonator and raconteur, Dougie Byng, who lived in Arundel Terrace.

Byng, a sophisticated and brilliant performer, was a master of the double entendre and struck up an unlikely friendship with Shuff, as Rex was known.

Whenever Shuff was in Brighton, he made a beeline for Dougie and the two of them talked about variety - Dougie on pink Champagne and Shuff on barley wine mixed with Guinness.

They were the most unlikely pair but a couple of showbiz greats.

-Patrick Newley, Kingscourt Road, London SW16