In October 1892 he performed as part of a variety show at the Empire Theatre, London alongside the celebrated musical-hall performer, Marie Lloyd. George Bernard Shaw attended one of the performances and wrote: "Now is it not odd that at a music-hall to which, perhaps, half the audience have come to hear Marie Lloyd sing Twiggy voo, boys, twiggy voo? or to see Mr Darby jump a ten-barred gate, you get real stage art". According to an American newspaper: "English athletes are just now flocking to the Empire theater, London, to witness the high and broad jumping feats of Joseph Darby, the champion jumper and holder of the championship belt." The same source reported: "one of his favorite tricks is to place six chairs in a row and spring from a brick at one end of the line to a corresponding brick at the other. His flying feats include a leap over a chair placed on a table and over eight chairs in a row, a length of eighteen feet. He goes over a horse seventeen hands high with his ankles tied. Among his phenomenal performances are a backward spring over three
