Definition of "variety-show" []

• An entertainment consisting of dances, songs, negro-minstrelsy, gymnastics, or specialties of any kind, sometimes including farces or short sketches written to exhibit the accomplishments of the company. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Lopukhov had danced on the vaudeville circuit with his sister later the wife of British economist John Maynard Keynes, by the by, and "The Bright Stream" is full of variety-show cheese: A tractor driver dresses up as a dog and careens around the stage on a bicycle."
• "In the fourth season of "30 Rock," the fictitious variety-show host Tracy Jordan, played with verve by comedian Tracy Morgan , has an emotional epiphany after shooting "Garfield 3," in which he starred as a motion-capture cat."
• "The Two Skirts & a Shirt show opens with a self-titled original semi-comic blues; it's a trifle misleading, more like a 1960s TV variety-show opening."