VERSATILITY OF PRINCIPAL

Southland Times, Issue 24057, 22 February 1940, Page 11

VERSATILITY OF PRINCIPAL

HENRI THE GREAT AND COMPANY VARIETY OF ILLUSIONS AND TRICKS A magician is popular with any audience and the secret of his success usually lies in his versatility. He must have an amusing patter, and an almost unlimited repertoire of tricks and he must be able to perform any effective illusion. Last night Henri the Great (Mr W. Matthews) and company gave a performance in the Civic Theatre and the variety of the items in which Mr Matthews appeared showed that he certainly lacked nothing in versatility. Last night’s audience was impressed with the ability of Mr Matthews to play the role of anything from a juggler to a musician. He presented simple and intricate illusions, sang songs to his own guitar and mouth organ accompaniment, drew lightning sketches, played the piano accordion and appeared with a talking doll. He was at home in all his items and performed with the confidence of a clever and finished artist. Certainly some of his tricks were not new, but the deft manner in which he defied the audience to guess the secrets of his tricks and illusions more than counteracted this.

Every small boy worships a magician and cherishes the hope that he will rise to a similar status in life, and from the laughter and cries of appreciation by the children last night it was evident that they were thoroughly enjoying the programme. To them Mr Matthews was a person to be regarded with far more esteem than any ordinary man because he was able to provide them with entertainment from which they obtained a great amount of enjoyment. It was no trouble for him to produce rabbits, guinea pigs and pigeons from the queerest places imaginable, to balance spinning plates on the end of a pliant cane, or to transform a seed into a flourishing shrub in a matter of seconds. All these things and many others he performed with equal dexterity. The egg and black bag trick is one of the oldest of all, but the mystifying effect that is achieved when the illusion is accomplished still appeals to any audience. Mr Matthews performed this trick very successfully last night and although the audience was given a good opportunity to see how it was done the secret of the disappearance of the egg remained undisclosed. The fakirs of India have no monopoly of the basket trick and this was one of the most popular items last evening. A boy is placed inside the basket which is then pierced with sharp-pointed swords from all sides. When the swords are removed the boy jumps out quite unharmed and the audience is left wondering how he could possibly have avoided being run through. Although he was handcuffed, tied in a mail bag and placed inside a large packing case that was immediately nailed down, Mr Matthews was able to make his escape in remarkable fashion and demonstrated that nothing is too difficult for him to perform. Another popular artist last night was Sonny Moran, the singing cowboy, whose yodelling was very effective. Other items in the comprehensive programme were tap dancing, hill billy songs, and guitar and piano accordion duets. Another performance will be given tonight.