Dwight Fiske

Dwight Fiske (1892–1959) was an American pianist and nightclub entertainer whose career centered on risqué spoken narratives delivered over his own piano accompaniment. He also appeared on Broadway in 1934 in the play Dark Victory.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Fiske grew up between Providence and Boston before briefly enrolling at Harvard. He subsequently withdrew to pursue musical study at the Paris Conservatoire. He later claimed that work as a silent film accompanist sharpened his improvisational skills at the keyboard. Following World War I, he performed for American audiences in Parisian cafes and New York speakeasies.

Fiske's early reputation in London was bolstered by the actress Tallulah Bankhead, then active in the West End, who helped bring him to wider attention during his nine-month engagement at the Bat Club. Returning to New York in the early 1930s, he performed at venues such as the Mayfair Yacht Club at 450 East 52nd Street during the final years of Prohibition, and continued as a late-night attraction when those establishments became legitimate clubs in 1933. At the height of his fame in the 1930s and 1940s, Fiske was closely identified with the Savoy-Plaza Hotel's Cafe Lounge at Fifth Avenue and East 58th Street and the Versailles Room on East 50th Street, where his midnight performances drew socialites and visiting celebrities. His admirers included Edward, Prince of Wales, Robert Benchley, and Dorothy Kilgallen.

His stage act featured a set of recurring spoken comic narratives — among them pieces centered on characters such as "Mrs. Pettibone" and "Ida the Wayward Sturgeon" — delivered in clipped tones while he accompanied himself at the piano. Fiske was among the first entertainers to market himself through so-called party records, releasing material initially on 78 rpm discs and later in the 33⅓ rpm long-playing format. He also published his stories in illustrated book form.