frederick john westcott (26 march 1866 – 18 september 1941), best known by his stage name fred karno, was an english theatre impresario of the british music hall. as a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularizing the custard-pie-in-the-face gag. during the 1890s, in order to circumvent stage censorship, karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue.