PROFESSOR HASELMAYER.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 2984, 18 January 1881, Page 3

PROFESSOR HASELMAYER.

It falls to the lot of few public entertainers to make so favorable a debtit as did Professor Haselmayer at the Theatre Royal last evening. The house wa? full. First impressions of persons or places are proverbially unreliable, and are often qyite different from the experiences afterwards obtained, but we think that there need not be the slightest doubt of the Professor achieving the most decided success in his particular capacity that has been witnessed here for some time. It is very rarely indeed that one hears such unanimous and unqualified satisfaction expressed with any public eatertainment as was the case last evening. Limited by time and space we cannot in this issue do more than briefly refer to the main features of the entertainment. One thing was most strikingly apparent, and that was that the Professor is a perfect master of his art. There is nothing artificial; everything eeems most original and genuine. Possessed of a vivacious manner, in conjunction with a pleasing presence, and from which a slight Auetrian acceufc in no way detracts, he has all the qualities that secure attention from a miscellaneous audience. The performance commenced with some wonderful sleight-of-hand tricks. A pack of cards were made to undergo extraordinary manipulation, and he magic art was exhibited in a degree astounding to the uninitiated by the transformations of an orange and a block of wood. The first portion of the programmme concluded with the cabinet trick. Madame Haselmayer wa* fastened in a cripal cabinet her wrists being padlocked by two gentlemen in the Theatre, (Major Koutledge and Mr Carr,) and the lid closed on her by the gentlemen aforesaid, and by them padlocked. A curtain descended for a short time, and lo and behold Madame appeared at the side free, the cabinet showiog no signs of having been meddled with. The second part commenced with the performance of Borne wonderfully-trained birds and mice, the most remarkable feat being the firing of a canary from a revolver by one of the audience, and it being caught by the Professor, uninjured, at the point of the ■word. The idea of the marvellous, however,found its culminating point in the performances of an automatic drum, the like of which has certainly never been seen in this colony before. Apparently controlled and guided by animal magnetism from the Professor it performs most astounding movements. Nothing but witnessing it can give any idea ot what it may be made capable. The performance concluded with a marvellous exhibition of sleight-of-hand dexterity with a hat and a glass case. Altogether the perfomance was most successful, and we feel certain that none of our readers but would be surprised and amused by witnessing what the Professor can place before bis audience. We must not omit the performance by the professor on the " Stylocarfe," a wonderful instrument, on which he was accompanied by Madame Haselmayer on the piano. An encore was demanded and responded to. To-night there will be an entire change Of programme, when " Psycho" will be presented. We may anticipate full houses during the Professor's stay here.