The troop of entertainers that our heroes become is modelled on the old time Music-Hall team of Wilson, Kepple and Betty, whose act included ‘The Sand Dance’. There’s also a nice resonance of names with the Paul Simon song ‘Call Me Al’:
And if you’ll be my bodyguard,
I can be your long lost pal,
And I can call you Betty,
and Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al.