THEATRE ROYAL.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3577, 28 December 1882, Page 3

THEATRE ROYAL.

The Royal Illusionists. Messrs Kellar and Cunard made their second appearance at the Theatre Royal last night, and it may safely be said that a better and more enjoyable entertainment of its kind than that presented has probably never been witnessed in this colony. Mr Kellar is a magician in the truest sense of the word, and Fucceeds beyond description in delighting and mystifiying his audience. The entertainment is never" permitted to grow tame or monotonous, but is carried through with a vigor and freshness that keeps up the interest of the most fastidious, and provokes admiration as well as surprise and amusement. Anything approacbiug vulgarity, even iv the most remote degree, is carefully eschewed, and there ia no attempt made to create laughter at the expense of the feeliugs ot individuals, a custom sometimes practised at sleigbt-of-band performances. All the paraphernalia used by Mr Kellar is of the simplest possible description, and inspection of the various parts is invited in order that the audience may satisfy themselves that the articles employed in carrying out the various tricks are what they appear to be. The entertainment last evening commenced with the performance of some exceedingly clever card tricks, which were warmly applauded. One of these deserves special meution. A small glass bell, with a ring-shaped hammer attached, was handed round amongst the o'ecupants of the front seats tot inspection

and was afterwards (in full view of the audience) placed by Mr Kellar on top of a brass rod that rested on a pedestal, and placed behind 3 pack of cards contained in another small stand. The bell, presumably controlled by a " familiar spirit," then named by given signals certain .ards in the pack which immediately rose up in the order in which they were called for. One amusiDg j feature of this trick waa that the bell refused to answer interrogations in any other language than Spanish. The " egg and goblet trick " which followed created great bewilderment, and no less amusement. An ordinary glass goblet was banded to a gentleman well known in Napier, with a request that he would hold it firmly for a little while. Into this goblet an egg was placed by Mr Kellar, who afterwards threw a small colored handkerchief over the whole, at the same time requesting the person who held the goblet to shake it gently and make sure tbe egg was there. The result of the shake being satisfactory, Mr Kellar walked back to the stage, and procured another handkerchief, which he brought down into the* hall and squeezed in bis hand, and in less time than it takes to tell it the egg was discovered in the- conjuror's hand, while the second handkerchief was discovered at tbe bottom of the goblet neatly folded up, the gOblet never having been moved during the whole of the time. Considerable merriment was also created by the production of a baby's complete wardrobe from a hat borrowed from another wondering spectator. Innumerable coins, too, were caught •' on the wing " in various parts of the house, and were quickly transferred into the same hat through the crown, but of course they were all unhappily " missing " when the hat was returned to its owner. The trick with the pistol and riogs was very cleverly negotiated, and was followed by the mysterious bottle out of which wines, brandy, water, and various other drinks were dispensed in a small wine glass according to the particular tastes of the samplers, of whom Mr Kellar bad no difficulty in finding a goodly number. All who tasted them pronounced the liquors to be excellent, but their palates must have received a rude shock a few minutes later when a real live Guinea pig was liberated from the identical bottle that supplied the succulent fluids. The performances of the automata Psycho, Clio, Phono, and Echo evoked hearty rounds of applause. Psycho's calculations are not only accurate but exceedingly rapid, and last night he gave instant answers to the following amongst other questions in arithmetic propounded by the audience:—The square of 1798, (3232804) ; the cube of 705 (350402625) ; the square root of 2 (L 4142136); the cube ror.t of 11 (2 2239801). Psycho also told tbe dates of coins held in the hand of Mr KelJar while tbe latter was in the body of the Theatre. Clio produced a capital sketch of Sir Garnet Wolsely, which waa handed over to the gentleman who named the subject. The remaining automata, Phono and Echo, played selections in masterly style on tbe euphonium and cornet, their instrumentation and fingering being as natural and accurate as that of any accomplished bandsman. The whole concluded with the Davenport Bros, famous spirit cabinet and rope-tying tricks, which were gone through in a manner that completely mystified everyone present, including even the two gentlemen who went on the stage for the purpose of minutely watching tbe proceedings and—it may algo be assumed, discovering how the trick is done. Need it be added they discoverednothing.

To-night tbe same programme will be repeated, and to-morrow evening Mr Kellar promises a dark seance, when, to use his own words, " the whole Theatre will be converted into a spirit wardrobe, and spirit figures, &c, will be seen floating about in all parts of the building."