NIGHT OF MAGIC

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 89, 21 June 1946, Page 5

NIGHT OF MAGIC

TREAT FOR YOUNG AND OLD CROWDED HOUSE ENTERTAINED The much talked-of ‘Cigam’ entertained a crowded audience in the Grand Theatre last Wednesday evening, when in a nonstop two-hour programme he presented a bewildering array of sleight-of-hand, illusions, and finally ‘Chinese Magic.’ That ‘Cigam’ went ‘big’ with the children, would be putting it mildly. The juvenile section of his audience, which must have comprised 50 per cent., gave him a splendid hearing and one could literally have heard a pin drop in the more mystifying moments.

The programme was an achievement in that as a one-man show, it was hard to realise that so much first-class interest could be crammed into a limited period without a certain degree of sameness. However, the audience was fascinated from start to finish and each new trick brought a fresh burst of applause. Cigam (who in real life is none other the Rev. A. Carr, a fully ordained minister of religion belonging to the Methodist Church) had probably the deftest hands it has £>een our pleasure to watch. His repertoire numbered many an old ‘jolt’ hoary with age, but in introducing these, the magician used an engaging freshness and vervre which never failed to interest. Some of his finest items were probably the simplest, and his audience will not soon forget the disappearing cards, or the vanishing rings, which were discovered inside a box by the side of the stage which had been there since the opening of the concert. The final period of ‘Chinese’ magic was possibly the most interesting from the adults point of view but with the aid of one or two youthful, assistants from the audience Cigam again captured the juvenile attention with a vengeance. The last item, producing articles in a neverending stream from a magic box was a fitting one, and the artist was given a prolonged round of applause.

A feature of the show was the musical selections provided by the newly assembled Whakatane Orchestra, which likewise met with warm ,applause. This musical group made its debut at the concert and provided bright interludes comprising the selections ‘Sweetly Dreamihg’; Massa’s Birthday and the Marches ‘War Correspondent’ and ‘For Liberty’ and the Waltz ‘Blonde Sailor.’ The players were Mr F. Watson (piano), C. S. Armstrong (string bass), H. Litchwark (’cello), P. Ward (double bass), E. Hay (flute), J. Miles Jnr. (cornet) and H. Mahy, J. Miles Snr., D. Saunders, A. Albiston and Miss S. Kenyon (violins). It is the hope of all who attended that the public will have further opportunities of hearing this combination 'again in the near future.