AMUSEMENTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 257, 30 April 1912, Page 6

AMUSEMENTS

THE NORWOOD AND VON ARX COM- 1 BL\ T ED SHOWS. ! Speaking of the Norwoods and Von Arx, who will appear in the Theatre Royal on Thursday and Friday, May 2 and 3, the New Zealand Times says:— Few people realised what uproarious mirth could be occasioned by hypnotic suggestion till they had seen the Norwoods and Von Arx at the Opera House, * when the company opened in Wellington j to a full house. The performance prov- | | ed a distinct success, and the possibili- I j ties of cataleptic trances, somnambulism, 3 mental telepathy and control by hypnot- 1 | ism were proved in a manner that won J [ prolonged merriment and applause. Nor- [ wood's work is .scientific, and a revela- | tion of the infirmities of the average j human personality in the presence of one ] gifted with magnetic power. Such in- j firmities are common, and their effects I remarkably funny. A dozen male members of the audience are invited to sit on J the stage, and in as many minutes they do the bidding of the hypnotist, dance in a manner that surprises their friends, extract music out of brooms, link their ! fingers so that they cannot pull their hands apart, believe* themselves Spanish maidens, make up their toilets before imaginary mirrors, pose and curtsey, and do other ludicrous things till the house rocks with laughter. Each one is hyp- ' notised in turn; while Norwood makes' passes he invites the subject to gaze steadily into his right eye, to the accomj paniment of sweetly dulling notes on j the piano, and as the hypnotist recedes 1 or advances the subject responds till he Sis on the point of falling. Miss Winifred Norwood gave a surprising exhibition of thought-reading, and in each case ] J did what was required without the utter- J I ance of a single word. Certain requests | j —such as to obtain a packet of cigarettes from the pocket of its owner, take one out, replace the box, and give the cigarette to somegne else—are obtained by Norwood. The telepathist, after being thrown into an hypnotic trance, then comes down blindfolded, and the passage of thought-waves between Norwood and herself produces the result. Some of the tests were of considerable difficulty:. in one case the initials had to be cut from the corner of a handkerchief with a knife in a different pocket, and the detached corner placed in the hand of the owner. The combination also includes George Murphy, a clever comedy juggler who manipulates balls and cigar-boxes to the accompaniment of lively patter, and he occasioned much laughter. On Thursday afternoon, starting at the post office, New Plymouth, at 4 o'clock, Professor Norwood will perform a wild blindfold hypnotic drive. The box plan is at Collier's.