BLACKSTONE STILL "TOPS"

By Demon Rembrandt

When the Blackstone show appeared in Battle Creek, among the Magicians who attended were Percy Abbott and several members of the Abbott staff, and Paul Ricketts, Mack Rush and Ken Paul of Battle Creek. All were unanimous that Harry is still "tops" as a magical showman.

Blackstone is doing much the same show he did on the USO tour, but in the few weeks he had at Colon, he rebuilt much of it, and all of the illusions were repainted and redecorated by George Evans of Chicago. From the flower opening to the double exchange illusion at the finish, the show is a fast moving, kaleidoscopic, magical performance, the new decorations and new costuming adding freshness to the presentation. The illusions are familiar to Magicians, but one in particular seemed to take on new life in the present show — The Girl Without a Middle — a real mystery.

And of course Harry still gets a lot out of the Dancing Handkerchief, The Six Card Repeat, and the Floating Light Bulb.

In the company are nine girls and seven men.

Although we caught the show at Battle Creek, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Thornton and the ol' Demon made the trip to Fort Wayne, and again saw the show, now augmented by a couple of illusions that could not be presented on the small stage at Battle Creek.

After the show, we were guests at a party given in honor of Blackstone at the Hotel Anthony by the Fort Wayne Magic Club. There we saw President Gene Bulson, Secretary O. L. Mensch, Sam Stern, Marion Black and other members of the Fort Wayne Club. On behalf of the club, President Bulson conferred a life membership on Blackstone, who responded to the honor by performing some card tricks.