Kreskin astounds packed theatre

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33479, 9 March 1974, Page 2

Kreskin astounds packed theatre

Kreskin did not get even the shadow of a teeny-bopper reception when he arrived at Wellington Airport yesterday, but he did get a bumper audience last night and during his two hours and a half performance he enlightened, entertained, and astounded.

A preamble about what |extra sensory perception and' suggestion was all about and 1 how it could be made to work, was followed with an; opening trick with rings taken from three people mj {the audience. Before the) I eyes of a crowd that filled I every seat in the St .lames 'the rings became interlocked land dangled like a miniature 'chain. The owners inspected I them and confirmed they were the rings they had given to Kreskin and before I their eyes he separated the rings and handed them back. After that it was an exi cursion into the realms of thoughts in flight. In this 1 field he quickly generated an I aura of mass speculation. He drew figures on a pad, which he kept concealed from a 'concentrating audience, and 1 then asked who had visualised a triangle in a ' square, which was one of i his figures, many hands shot I into the air. I Any room for scepticism? Plenty, but not if after sev-j ieral misses you happen to| I see a 68 in a circle form) (strangely before your eyes. I HIDDEN CHEQUE I However, the climax of I the first half of the show I was his hidden cheque act. ■From the audience a comImittee of four was selected {and instructed to hide the ! cheque anywhere in the i theatre. Kreskin then left > the stage, accompanied by two people from the audiI ence. The committee went ' about its assignment and moved into the circle. Kreskin was recalled and was, ■ soon on the track of his I cheque which, if unfound, 'was to be a donation to the' {Crippled Children Society. In;

less than 10 minutes he was removing his cheque from the sleeve of a woman’s coat. His earlier names and dates feat were as puzzling and were presented in a manner which was open and subject to scrutiny by the audience. In his identification of cards he failed to get a 100 per cent pass due to cross currents of thoughts between his two assistants from the audience, but in. his written tests on dates and names his answers were spot on. 30 ON STAGE The second half of this show was devoted entirely to suggestion—there are still some who will think of it as hypnotism. His call for subjects was followed by an invasion of people on the stage—at least 30—and after some culling he was left with a group which reacted sensitively to his suggestions. At the flick of a finger they were moved to leap from their chairs and to accuse each other of pinching. There were the two men who put their jackets on inside out and laughed at each other over it, but would not or could not admit, to themselves that their coats were; inside out. The various re-! sponses were grand for laughs. With the curtain fall thei show was still not over fori Kreskin. Several people; waited on stage for his auto-1 graph and this was a chore; he spent several minutes in; completing. He signed; driver’s licences, member-; ship cards, programmes, sheets of paper, and visiting cards.—Jack St Just, ”Even-| ing Post” critic, March 7. Christchurch performances at Town Hall tonight (Saturday 8 p.m.l, and tomorrow night (Sunday 8.30 p.m.). Good seats still available. Box plans at Town Hall Booking Office from 10 a.m.; today and Sunday, or phone' 68-899 and reserve your; seat. Door sales from 7 p.m.; each night. —ADVT. 1