THE GREAT McEWEN CO.

Shannon News, 6 July 1923, Page 3

THE GREAT McEWEN CO.

TO-NIGHT,

At the Maioriland. Theatre last niglrt the. Great McEwen, iipynotist, conjuror, mesmerist and sleight of hand entertainer, supported by a company of high class 'artists, made his appearance before ,a; large and delighted audience. Since visiting Shannon last, the Great. McEwen has added extensively to> the attraction of his programme, many of the illusions that he ’presented being quite new. As an exponent of feats of legerdemain he is of the first order, his many efforts provoking prolonged applause. • His card manipulations were extremely well executed, being moist, -baffling to the uninitiated. In the latter half of the programme his demonstrations of thb occult, science of m,entail telepathy, mesmerism, and hypnotism, provided much food, for reflection, a« well a,s provoking extremely contagious laughter. His unerring accuracy in discovering numbers selected at random by a committee from the audience was exceedingly uncanny and mysterious, and added considerably to his reputation ai.s the prince of enleriainar,s in this particular field of amusement. The absolute control 'the entertainer had over his willing subjects for the hypnotist Jests was utilised by him to provide for the lighter side of the performance, many mirth-provok-ing episodes occurring under the influence of his nonsensical suggestions. Supporting the Great McEwen is Eric Ah Yeng, late of the Imperial Court of Chinese magicians, who was making his first appearance in Shannon. This young performer quickly captured the audience, his specialty being cartoon sketches. Tn these he revealed himself as an artist of -no mean ability and his quite unassuming and humorous patter all combined to make his share of the performance very\delightful. With a little more experience of stage deportment and more pronounced movements he is sure to become popular in New Zealand. Miss Saint, a, charming ballad, singer, also added to the enjoyment of the entertainment by singing artistically aome well-known popular songs. Miss Doris Saint, a King’s gold medallist elocutionist, wa,s most interesting in humorous and dramatic recitations, which were quite a feature of the programme. When the final curtain was rung down those present felt genuine regret, at the conclusion of such a. fine entertainment and. Messrs Hyde and Wilkinson are to he congratulated for their enterprise bv bringing such a talented company to Shannon. The Company wil l appear again’to-night and will present n. complete c-hlange of programme, and those who were not present last niglfi are strongly recommended not, to miss this delightful entertainment.