"CARTER THE GREAT"

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 290, 8 December 1933, Page 9

"CARTER THE GREAT"

SHOW AT HIS MAJESTY'S. WEIRD HAPPENINGS. . For over two hours at His Majesty's Theatre last evening, Charles J. Carter, or to give him his professional name, "Carter the Great," entertained and astounded his audience by performing, with the casualness of a born showman, the most amazing modern-day miracles. Carter, a master of magic and illusions, is no stranger to Auckland—lie was here some six years ago, and during his season he performed all manner of amazing things, ranging from the colour change with handkerchiefs to the causing of a great live lion to vanish into thin air. On his present visit Carter is without the lion, but he has with him several pretty girls, who could give any lion a real lesson in the art of disappearing and reappearing in the most baffling way. Last evening the audience enjoyed every moment of the three acts.' By a mere wave of a wand or the crack of a toy pistol anything from a handkerchief to a woman would be transferred from one box to another, or wherever else the magician desired.

Except that for a few moments he handles a pack of cards, as a kind of introduction to the show. Carter does little or nothing in the way of hand manipulation. He goes in for bigger and betterthings and discards what for a better name might be termed "pocket" tricks'. Like all the best magicians, he makes full use of cabinets, which are shown to be empty beyond any 3emblance of doubt. Some are actually assembled on the stage, and examined by members of the audience, who are 'no sooner satisfied of their emptiness than a pretty girl steps out, apparently materialising from nothing. One of Carter's best tricks is that of sawing a- girl in halves. The girl is placed in the box with her head protruding at one end and feet at the other, and with a committee from the audience holding her head and feet the box is sawn through the centre, the two halves being then pulled apart. When the two sections of the box are placed together again, one side is thrown open and the girl steps out smiling. Another trick is one in which a girl is securely handcuffed to the sides of a steel cabinet just roomy enough to allow her standing room. The door is closed and then some 60 ugly-looking steel spikes are pushed through, piercing the cabinet from back to front. Between each spike is perhaps three inches of space. Then the back of the cabinet is drawn toward the front, until the space of the spike-riddled cabinet is no more than eight inches. The audience might reasonably expect the magician to throw open the door and produce a human pepper container with all its perforations, but it isn't so. Once again the girl steps out smiling.

111 lighter vein • Carter presents a very fine illusion, entitled "The Gangster's Doom." A gallows is set up and a young girl, for a crime not mentioned, is led up the steps, the hangman adjusts the hood and rope and the bolt is slipped. But the girl, instead of- being seen hanging at the end of the drop, is found smiling near the wings of, the stage. It is a wonderfully clever illusion. The "Astral Hand" is only another of Carter's mysteries. This severed member of a human body is placed upon a plate of glass and by the method of rapping will answer any questions asked by the audience. And so the show goes on, one mystery after another, each equally as amazing as the one preceding it. An interesting and exceedingly mystifying performance of thought reading is given by Miss Evelyn Maxwell. Blindfold and seated on the stage, she correctly describes all manner of articles possessed by the audience. She also answers written questions. The entertainment is never allowed to lag, and from beginning to end the audience are on. their toes, wondering what "miracle" will happen next. Those who appreciate clever entertainment should certainly make a point of seeing "Carter the Great."