THEATRE ROYAL.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2134, 27 December 1880, Page 3

THEATRE ROYAL.

PROFESSOR HABELMAYEB. This gentleman made his re-appearance before a Christchurch audience on Friday evening, at the Theatre Royal, when there was a good attendance. The professor, though not a performer who startles or surprises one, yet does his tricks neatly and deftly ; added to which, he, as it were, takes bis audience into his confidence, and his conversation, just tinged with a foreign accent, is interesting without being wearisome. Many of the items on the programme were those with which audiences are pretty familiar, but they were executed in a manner which, as it were, conferred a degree of newness upon them. Tho three specialities of the performance were the tricks in which Madame Hasolmayer took part, and Pyecho, the mechanical automaton whist player. The first of these was the crystal cabinet. In this Madame Haselmayer is locked by tho wrists in a kneeling position to the floor of the cabinet, which is also locked by two gentlemen chosen by the audience. The cabinet itself, as its name imports, is of glass, so that the performer is easily seen. A screen is placed over it for some three or four seconds, when Madame appears from the back in a mysterious manner, the locks, &0., remaining intact. The second is even more mysterious. Madame Haselmayer stands on a table, and over her is placed an extinguisher. At the report of a pistol the extinguisher is removed, and Madame is seen seated in the dress circle. How she manages to get there in the few seconds of time elapsing is tho mystery, and as the Professor remarks, it takes as many minutes to return as it docs seconds for him to send her there. Psycho, the next novelty, is a whist player of no ordinary calibre, added to which he has good luck in the matter of trumps. On Friday night the two gentlemen who were opposed to Psycho and his partner had but a small proportion of these useful cards, and Psycho scored a win, playing a very scientific game. These three items are especially worth seeing, not that tho rest of the performance is not very clever ar.d entertaining, but these stand out prominently from the rest. The Professor’s trained birds and mice, though mentioned last, are by no means the least amusing. The various feats they go through, and their obedience and docility, are remarkable, showing a vast amount of patience and application on the part of their trainer. Taken throughout Professor Haselmayer’s performance is a very enjoyable one, the more so as he possess the rare gift of at once making himself at homo with the audience, and all unconsciously to themselves, making them in many instances confederates in his tricks. The goblin drum was to tho fore once more, and it does not appear _to have lost any of its magical powers during the long course of travel which the Professor has gone through since his last visit here. Tonight he will appear again, whan, no doubt, there will be a large audience.