MAN OF MYSTERY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 780, 28 September 1929, Page 16

MAN OF MYSTERY

NICOLA ENTERTAINS AT ST. JAMES AUDIENCE BEWILDERED Women were cut in half, and lost their heads; ducks flitted mysteriously from box to box; eggs and billiard balls appeared out of the air; and a host of other marvels, fully occupied the attention of a crowded house at the St. James Theatre last evening, when Nicola, the man of mystery, reappeared in Auckland after several years’ absence, Nicola does many of the old tricks, which he has experimented with and improved on. He also possesses an extensive repertoire of his own, worked out in his workshop at Monmouth, Illinois, U.S.A. Apart from the excellence of his startling illusions, Nicola's great success in his -svorK is due to the manner in which his effects are explained to the audience. Many of tho world’s illusionists have pinned their faith to the old “mystery atmosphere.” They wore cloaks decorated with cabailistic signs, and spoke in sepulehural tones, employing all manner of weird effects to bewilder the audience before starting on the actual tricks. Not so Nicola. All through the performance he remains his cheery self, with a laugh in every line of his patter. It was not long after the curtain had gone up that the “wizard" waa assured of the goodwill of his audience.

Last evening’s performance was a tbe world with a magician. Nicola impersonating the conjurers of different nations. China was first, and a bracket of tricks included the startling "stretching a woman.” The famou?, Hindu basket trick, which it is said Nicola is tho only white man to attempt successfully, did not fall short of expectations, and there was an in voluntary shudder and a hiss' of indrawn breath as the conjurer plunged swords through and through the basketmto which he had just lowered Securely tied. Before the end of the performance, however, the audience had become quite used to the * r‘fJT US ” manner in which Nicola tieated lus assistants. He cut them m piMes, and squeezed them between villainous-looking spikes; he extracted numerous eggs from the moutli ° f } hem ' but their cheerfulness abated not one bit. AROUND THE WORLD Continuing his tour, Nicola performed in an Egyptian setting, and lastly as a South American, in the latter demonstrating that he is himself a knock-about comedian of some talent. fl rst .half of the programme coneluded with the gaol-breaking illusion a variation of the three card game. flitted from refuge to refuge, being always where the audience did not expect to see her—in. fact, Nicola,

with apparent clumsiness, deluded the most watchful into expecting to see his elusive assistant in tho very place where she was not. The curtain fell to the accompaniment of showers of cards which Nicola flicked from the footlights. They flew to ail parts of the house as if fired from a gun. Assisting Nicola was Herman Holmberg, whose clever comedy work was an excellent foil to Nicola’s brilliance. He was quite content to be the idiot who made all the obvious inquiries and remarks that helped the chief performer. Mr. Holmberg’s patter was of a high standard, and never flagged. “Ibex” presented a pantomime of shadows with great skill. Nicola himself, by the way, walked away from his shadow, leaving it on a blind as he strolled to the footlights .and spoke to tho audience.