Magic New Zealand® E-zine

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* Magic New Zealand®
* Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment Ltd (New Zealand)
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Issue Number: #1621
Date: Sunday 30th May 2021
Editor: Alan Watson QSM
www.watson.co.nz
E-mail: editor@magicnewzealand.com
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Hi here is the latest news
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1. Editor's Message
2. FISM World Championship Of Magic & FISM NA
3. The Magic Word Podcast
4. Magical Women With Connie Boyd
5. The Mystery Of Magic's Greatest Card Trick
6. Mind 2 Mind - John Carey #120
7. Luis de Matos Online Show
8. U.K. Magicians Autobiography
9. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #13
10. The Orchante Saga - Beginnings
11. E-zine Archives
12. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice

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1. Editor's Message
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If you would like to read the Magic New Zealand e-zine in HTML format
go to: http://www.magicnewzealand.com/ezine-archive/2021-Jan-to-Dec-2021/1621-May30-2021.html

If you would like to write a regular column for Magic New Zealand or have some magic news drop me a line:
Editor@MagicNewZealand.com

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2. FISM World Championship Of Magic & FISM NA
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Message by Ryan Joyce (Canada)

What magicians need to know about FISM World Championship of Magic & FISM NA

Important April 2021 Updates for FISM World Championship of Magic and North American FISM Qualifying Championship Updates with Renée-Claude Auclair!

Table of Contents

0:00 - Welcome
0:43 - What are the 5 North American FISM Member Societies?
0:55 - North American FISM Qualifying Championship Explained
2:21 - Qualification to FISM World Championship of Magic
2:35 - Combined 2021 Convention
2:47 - 28th FISM World Championship of Magic
3:43 - How countries are chosen for FISM
4:52 - Pandemic Impacts
5:05 - Convention Hotel
6:10 - Magic Festival & Week of Magic in Quebec
6:45 - Can magicians still compete?
7:40 - Young magicians contest
8:28 - How to register

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuY5N5_LkKI

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3. The Magic Word Podcast
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Message by Scott Wells, M.I.M.C. with Gold Star (US)

Franz Harary and Rob Lake on The Magic Word Podcast

Last week we featured a great conversation with mega-illusionist, Franz Harary. There were so many paths that we could have taken so we covered as much ground as we could in our allotted time. We talked about outer space and NASA, working and living in the home of Michael Jackson, traveling with large illusions around the world, his theatre in Macau, his many television appearances, performing in arenas and stadiums and so much more. Plus he revealed some stories never before discussed publicly. It was an episode you are sure to enjoy. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts, but for more information (and get a link to the video of the podcast), visit:
https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/613-franz-harary

This week we continue discussions about stage illusions with Rob Lake. He is a young performer with tons of credits to his name despite his young years "in the biz." He has appeared on network and independent TV shows including "America's Got Talent" [sic] where he advanced close to the big prize. He had a residency in the Bahamas for three years at a casino, performed in London and in Japan just to name a couple foreign destinations. You can hear our discussion and get links to our video chat at:
https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/614-rob-lake

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4. Magical Women With Connie Boyd
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Message by Connie Boyd (USA)

Renée-Claude Auclair, President Canadian Association of Magicians

Renée-Claude Auclair is the Canadian Association of Magic's (CAM 2.0) current President, she is also the current President of the Quebec 2022 FISM World Championships and the Co-Organiser of FISM which will be held in Canada July 25-30, 2022. This will be the FIRST time, ever, that FISM (Federation International Society of Magicians) also known as "the World Championships of Magic" will be held in North America.

In this talk Renée reveals her plans & hopes for the future for CAM 2.0. She discusses Joan Caesar and her importance to magic in Canada and the magic community. Plus, tips and lessons Renée has learned from experiences creating festivals, magic conferences & shows and working within organisations. Please comment & let us know what you learn from Renée's talk.
Contents

00:00 - 00:19 - Introduction of Renée Claude Auclair
00:19 - 03:20 - the new vision for CAM 2.0
03:20 - 05:05 - Joan Caesar's contributions to Magic
05:05 - 05:38 - Working on the bid for FISM Quebec, Canada 2022
05:38 - 05:54 - Call to Action - Please Subscribe
05:54 - 08:37 - Renée's Advice to Magicians
08:37 - 10:59 - What Renée has learned from Mistakes
10:59 - 11:21 - Call to Action Please Subscribe

Renée-Claude Auclair
President Quebec 2022 FISM World Championship LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renée-cla...
Photo Credit Renée & Pierre: Quebec Scope Magazine
President: Canadian Association of Magicians (CAM)
President & Co-Organiser: FISM aka World Championship of Magic 2022
President: Club Magie du Quebec & Festival of Magic Quebec City
https://en.festivaldemagie.ca

FISM: https://fism.org
FISM Quebec 2022: https://en.fismquebec2021.com
CAM: Canadian Society of Magicians: https://www.cammagic.org
FaceBook FISM Quebec: https://www.facebook.com/FISMNACM2020
FaceBook FISM: https://www.facebook.com/fismmagic
FaceBook FISM Europ: https://www.facebook.com/FISMeurope

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5. The Mystery Of Magic's Greatest Card Trick
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Article forwarded by Marvin Berglas UK)

NYTimes.com

At 94, the magician David Berglas says his renowned effect can't be taught. Is he telling the truth?

Decades into his retirement, he has revealed just about every secret in his long and storied career. This includes the time, in 1954, that he made a grand piano vanish in a London hotel banquet room filled with guests. (Distracted, the audience turned their focus in time to see a pianist, who seemed to be playing the instrument a moment earlier, fall facedown to the floor). But even now, when the subject of Mr. Berglas's famous effect is raised, he remains as cryptic as ever.

"It's not a secret I can give to anyone because it's not a secret as such," said Mr. Berglas, a formal and intense 94-year-old, at his home in North London. "It's like asking a musician who can improvise to teach you his improvisation, which of course he can't."

The trick is a version of a classic plot of magic, called Any Card at Any Number. These tricks are called ACAAN in the business.

ACAAN has been around since the 1700s, and every iteration unfolds in roughly the same way: A spectator is asked to name any card in a deck - let's say the nine of clubs. Another is asked to name any number between one and 52 - let's say 31.

The cards are dealt face up, one by one. The 31st card revealed is, of course, the nine of clubs. Cue the gasps.

There are hundreds of ACAAN variations, and you'd be hard pressed to find a professional card magician without at least one in his or her repertoire. (A Buddha-like maestro in Spain, Dani DaOrtiz, knows about 60.) There are ACAANs in which the card-choosing spectator writes down the named card in secrecy; ACAANs in which the spectator shuffles the deck; ACAANs in which every other card turns out to be blank.

For all their differences, every ACAAN has one feature in common: At some point, the magician touches the cards. The touch might be imperceptible, it might appear entirely innocent. But the cards are always touched.

With one exception: David Berglas's ACAAN. He would place the cards on a table and he didn't handle them again until after the revelation and during the applause. There was no sleight of hand, no hint of shenanigans. It was both effortless and boggling.

Mr. Berglas has always and categorically denied using a stooge for this effect, and no one has ever stepped forward to say, "I stooged for the guy."

Further, over the years, a number of magicians have reported private, one-on-one performances of the Berglas Effect that left them stupefied. The magician and mentalist Barrie Richardson, for instance, described a 1977 visit to Mr. Berglas's home in his book for magicians, "Theater of the Mind." Asked for a card and a number, Mr. Richardson settled on the seven of hearts and 42.

After that: "He motioned me into his study and pointed to a deck of cards on his desk," Mr. Richardson wrote. "When I counted down to the 42nd card, I discovered the seven of hearts. The experience was chilling!"

Magicians lie to spectators constantly. Lying to each other is a no-no, so these testimonials are potent. Mr. Berglas points to them whenever the stooge question is raised.

"If people can't find an explanation for something, they always say it must be a stooge," Mr. Berglas said, sitting at his dining room table. "It used to annoy me, but it's been seen and written up by too many well-known magicians, respected magicians. Now I laugh it off."

I had contacted Mr. Berglas to ask if he would talk specifically about his most famous trick, and about his life. He managed to say yes while sounding not particularly interested, even a little reluctant. It was as if he couldn't figure out what was in it for him.

A few days later, I knocked on the door of his house in the London suburb of High Barnet. Ruth, his wife of 64 years, answered and led me past a staircase festooned with vintage posters from variety shows in the 1950s at British clubs where Mr. Berglas performed. At the end of the hall stood Mr. Berglas.

He walks aided by a cane and speaks in a refined British accent that carries no hint of his pre-World War II childhood in Germany. He has a white goatee and a pair of dark eyebrows hovering like hawk wings over his eyes. If he had a cameo in a film, he'd be credited as "Senior Wizard."

"My career ended more than 20 years ago," he said. "Though I always say I didn't retire. I retreated."

Before that retreat, he led an event-stuffed life. At 10, he sat not far from Adolf Hitler during the 1936 Olympics and watched Jesse Owens win three of his four gold medals. He and his family fled Germany two years later, and he met Sigmund Freud in a London hotel popular with Europe's refugees. After a stint in the U.S. military, where he served in Germany, helping to censor Nazi-sympathizing media and communications, he discovered magic in London in his early 20s.

"I was completely taken over by it," he said. Every night of the week he went to a different magic club or performance. In 1955, he was the first magician to have his own television series, "Meet David Berglas," on the BBC. He performed for audiences as varied as Winston Churchill and fans of the Rolling Stones, for whom he once served as the opening act.

He debuted what became known as the Berglas Effect in 1953. Most magicians asked spectators to physically pick a card from a deck, but he was far more intrigued by asking them to simply think of a card and then name it out loud.

"By the way," he said, casually, "mention a card, because I'm always interested in what
people say. Mention a card now."
"The seven of diamonds," I said.

There was a long pause.

"And if I said give me a number?"

"Forty-four," I said.

He nodded and the conversation returned to his biography. It seemed, in the moment, like he was simply conducting a poll to divine popular cards and numbers.

Then I remembered an anecdote related by Steve Cohen, a magician who performed for years at the Waldorf Astoria and will bring his show to the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in June. Mr. Cohen has described how, in 2002, during a visit to London, he got a ride from Mr. Berglas to a subway station after a night out of dinner and card tricks. As the two neared the train, Mr. Cohen said that the next time they met, he'd love to see Mr. Berglas's Any Card at Any Number.

With the car parked, Mr. Berglas turned serious. Remember, he told Mr. Cohen, "that you were the one who initiated this - you asked me to show this to you." He added that Mr. Cohen would remember what was about to happen for the rest of his life.

It turned out that the three of diamonds, Mr. Cohen's named card, was at the bottom of a deck that Mr. Cohen was asked to fish out of Mr. Berglas's jacket, which was draped in the back seat. (Yes, it was the only deck in the jacket.) It didn't escape Mr. Cohen's notice that technically, this was not Any Card at Any Number. He wasn't asked for a number. This was more like Named Card at Bottom of the Deck.

The best part of this performance, Mr. Cohen said in a recent phone interview, was the framing. You asked me - in other words, this isn't some setup. Well, that along with the bold assertion that what happened next would never be forgotten.

"It's ingenious," Mr. Cohen said. "It's almost epoch making. You're planting a landmark in people's heads. That showmanship is really key to the story."

On the chance that Mr. Berglas was waiting for an invitation to demonstrate his ACAAN, as he might have been with Mr. Cohen, I summoned the nerve to ask for a performance.

This was a mistake.

"No," he said, flatly. "I don't need to prove myself, to you or anyone else."

He pivoted quickly from irked to indignant.

"For somebody to come in here and ask me to perform, at my age, I think it's out of the question. It makes me feel strange that you need to ask that. It puts everything on a different footing."

Then he got angrier. With evident pique, he asked me to perform a card trick for him, suggesting that this request might give me a sense of his umbrage.

I apologized and explained that I had the Steve Cohen story in mind. A few minutes later, for reasons that I can't explain, he softened.

"There's a drawer behind you," he said. "There are some cards in there which I haven't touched in a long time."

I turned and opened the drawer. Inside I saw three decks in their cardboard boxes. Time began to slow down. I placed the decks in the middle of the table. He didn't touch them.

"Choose one of these," he said.

I picked one.

"Open it and place it face down in front of you," he said. "What was the card and number you mentioned?"

"Seven of diamonds, and 44," I said.

"I'll take a chance," he said. "I might be off by two."

I dealt the cards myself, one at a time, face up. By the time I reached the 20th card without seeing the seven of diamonds, I felt a growing incredulity. When I reached the 30th, I felt the stirrings of astonishment. By the 39th card, I was giddy.

Forty. Forty-one. Forty-two. I turned over the 43rd card.

It was the seven of diamonds. I stared at it, both gobsmacked and baffled. Gobsmacked because it seemed wildly improbable that he'd come so close. Baffled because it wasn't spot on.

"One off," Mr. Berglas said, evenly.

He didn't try to sell 43 as a triumph. On the contrary, he said that in lectures to magicians he has always told his audience that one off isn't close enough.

I left his house in a muddle, and I have returned to that muddle every time I think of this performance. Off by one seems, on some level, more perplexing than nailing it. Off by one implies that there is nothing automatic about this ACAAN, that it isn't a contraption that simply works when deployed. It's more like archery, which requires practice and concentration and can end with something other than a bull's-eye.

I ran these ideas by Aaron Fisher, a highly regarded American magician who did a commentary in July on his YouTube channel of an old live show by Mr. Berglas. Mr. Fisher said he didn't know what to make of 43 either. But he noted that Mr. Berglas is not renowned for dazzling sleight of hand.

"He messes with minds," Mr. Fisher said, "not decks."

None of this resolved the stooge question. Mr. Berglas may have a number of different methods, depending on the circumstances. "He never knows what he's going to do before he does it," Richard Kaufman writes in "The Berglas Effects" - note the plural - a lengthy book for magicians that explains every card trick in the Berglas canon, with one very notable exception.

The book suggests that Mr. Berglas is nothing if not a masterful improviser and a born gambler. What seems like a cohesive performance is actually a high-wire display of spontaneity with a heavy overlay of psychological manipulation. In hindsight, it seems likely that his anger was part of the show, a framing device. "I don't need to prove myself" is just a different, more contentious version of "You'll never forget what is going to happen next."

Once you've been told that a demonstration is "out of the question," you're ready to leave empty-handed. Compared to nothing, off by one isn't just thrillingly close. It's amazing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/style/berglas-effect-card-trick.html?smid=em-share

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6. Mind 2 Mind - John Carey #120
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Message by John Carey (UK)
http://www.johncareymagic.co.uk/

This effect is basically a homage to the maestro, Mr John Bannon. In his book Mentalissimo he has a wonderful effect called After Shock, which is basically a super strong location of a genuinely thought of card. I truly love it and urge you to study it. John's effect is based on restricted choice, an open index and a beautiful switch called the touch switch. I wanted to eliminate restrictions and have the spectator think of a card freely with the deck in their hands. Also, I wanted to create the illusion of reading their minds step by step before taking back the deck. Intrigued? Then read on...

Hand out the deck for shuffling and ask your helper to turn the deck face up. Then direct them to start slowly pushing off cards with the faces towards them and to continue spreading/pushing and stop when they see a card they like and to lock the image of that card into their mind and then
square up the deck. All you have to do here is estimate the approximate area of the deck where they stop spreading. It isn't difficult as a few trials will prove.

Take back the deck and execute any convincing deceptive false shuffle or false cut you use before tabling the face down deck. Now to create the illusion of mind-reading before even picking up the deck. We will utilize a couple of verbal deceptions, which if casually performed are quite potent. Credit to Max Maven and Jerry Sadowitz here I believe: 1. "Be honest, you're not thinking of a red card are you?" I smile and scratch my chin as I say this. If they say yes I reply "I thought so." If they say no I respond "I didn't think so." Either way you've got secret information. Attitude is key here and a relaxed performing style helps.

2. We now segue into the Sadowitz gambit, popularized by Derren Brown. "Keep saying the suit of your card over and over in your mind, like Hearts, Hearts, Hearts." Or if their card is black I say "Like Clubs, Clubs, Clubs."

If you get the suit right here you will inevitably get a facial reaction. If you don't, then you know it's the opposite suit. The lovely thing here is that you have nothing to lose, but when you get the hits it really does seem like you are tapping into their thoughts. Be bold and brave!

Pick up the deck and turn it face up. Start spreading the cards with the faces towards you, pausing here and there as you look at your spectator. Stop spreading a few cards before the estimated area of the deck and upjog a card about two inches. Then continue spreading leaving the indexes of the cards below the jogged card in view, in readiness for Bannon's open index concept. "Right, I've made a commitment, now it's your turn. What card are you thinking of?" When they name their card smile as you look at them.

Then look back at the deck and locate their card in your open index. Secure a left pinky break beneath it as you square up. We will now use the touch switch to bring the effect home successfully. Bring your palm down right hand over the deck and push the jogged card square. As an immediate continuation lift off all the cards above your break and revolve the right hand palm upwards. The left thumb peels off the top card of this packet and then allows it to drop to the table. As you execute the sleight you lower your hands. Smoothness rather than speed make it deceptive.

There mustn't be any hesitation. "So at the very beginning you shuffled the deck and you thought of a card and then the deck was mixed some more. That is as close as I could get." They are asked to turn over the tabled card and the mystery is concluded.

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7. Luis de Matos Online Show
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Message by Luis de Matos (Portugal)

Dear Friends in Magic,

Today I would like to announce our most recent adventure… "Luis de Matos BACKSTAGE". A fully virtual show that will be performed live from ESTÚDIO 33, including a behind-the-scenes tour throughout our daily playground, with moments of the show happening in different areas of the studio, and with a Q&A segment at the end of the performance.

In order to be able to well receive our friends from around the world we'll present one of the shows in ESPAÑOL and another one in ENGLISH. All the others will be in Portuguese.
The past 14 months have been very different at our ESTÚDIO 33, like everywhere else in the world.

Like all of us around the world my team and I have tried to stay active and creative trying to fight the adversities and finding alternative ways to do what we love.

Since the beginning of the pandemic we enroll in several different projects. Exactly 1 year ago today we premiered the ESTÚDIO 33 DRIVE IN concept. No only it was the home for over a dozen performances of our own show but we also hosted major national stars for Drive In concerts that included music, humor, theatre and so many other entertainment areas.

Later in 2020 we came up with another concept… "Luis de Matos CONECTADOS". The first ever really hybrid show that combines theatre audience and their own guests at home around the world. We've presented it for several weeks in Lisboa (December), Coimbra (January) and Porto (May).

In case you would like to take part on "Luis de Matos BACKSTAGE", please follow the bellow button, choose the date and follow the instructions regarding the place in the world you'll be watching it from… Portugal or Outside Portugal.

All performances start at 21:30 (WEST)
(Western European Summer Time | UTC+1)

Total running time: 75 minutes.

Essential Magic Collection <info@essentialmagiccollection.com>

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8. U.K. Magicians Autobiography
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Message by Paul Rushworth

90 year old England, U.K. magicians autobiography. ALL money goes to Alzheimers Research

My dad (Geoff Ray, real name; Geoff Rushworth) will be 90 yrs old in July. Dad has taken 12 years to write his autobiography! It has a forward from 'the lovely' Debbie McGee.

Mum and dad were professional magicians for many years, and travelled all over the World performing magic starting in Social and Working Mens Clubs, rising up to the London Palladium and World Cruises.

My lovely mum sadly passed away in November from Alzheimers.

Dad has taken 12 years to write his autobiography! It has a forward from 'the lovely' Debbie McGee.

He grew up in Castlefields, Shrewsbury and taught himself Judo and Magic from books.

Despite being the victim of a hit and run accident when he was 24 years old, which left him practically deaf, Dad was the first ever Judo black belt in Shropshire (1962) He taught himself Judo from a book! He ended up as a 5th Dan black belt.

He is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle, Gold Star.

The book is packed full of interesting stories from Wartime in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, to performing magic for Cary Grant, Pricilla Presley, Tony Curtis and Muhammed Ali.

We are selling the book with ALL profits going to Research into trying to find a cure for the awful, wicked disease of Alzheimers.

Alzheimers is currently affecting nearly one million people in the U.K. alone, and is rising every year.

We would appreciate any mention you could give us please in your Magazine.

Please feel free to ring me anytime.

Many thanks,

Paul Rushworth.
07761 542 401 ... 01743 231735

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9. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #13
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Message by Paul Stone (US)

If you are a regular reader of my weekly articles, you will already know that I prefer to describe my own memories of some of the great performers, many of whom were my close friends, and without doubt one of my very closest was Peter Reveen.

It is impossible to do justice in one short article to Reveen because he had such an incredible career. Reveen was one of the great showmen, with a huge onstage presence, and a wonderful speaking voice. He was a world-renowned hypnotist and an outstanding magician and illusionist. But even with all his many achievements and amazing success as a performer, it was Peter Reveen the man that I remember most. He was a unique human being and one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met.

Reveen was born in Adelaide, Australia, and he first made a big name for himself in that country. But it was in Canada where he was ultimately to leave an indelible mark with his legendary one-man hypnosis show. For many years he toured Canada with his sold-out shows at every major theatre. Not content with building an unsurpassed reputation for himself as a hypnotist, Reveen also produced and starred in Magik, a huge and spectacular Illusion show.

As Reveen's own amazing performing career was winding down, he returned to Las Vegas and became Lance Burton's personal manager. He was instrumental in helping Lance move from the Folies Bergère show at the Tropicana to his own show at the Hacienda Hotel and Casino and then on to his fabulous show at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino. This record-breaking show ran for fourteen years and over five thousand performances.

It was largely due to Peter's vision and impressive knowledge of the theatre that he persuaded the Monte Carlo to design and build a superb showroom for Lance that was modelled on a London West End theatre. It was a spectacular showroom and ideal for a master magician like Lance.

During the time that Peter was working with Lance, he decided to fly to Vancouver for a couple of days to check out a show featuring some friends of his. Peter asked me to join him, which I was happy to do because it was always fun to spend time with him.

Arriving at the airport in Vancouver, we had to go through customs and show our passports. When the customs officer looked at Peter's passport he asked him if he was the Reveen. When Peter confirmed that it was indeed him, the customs officer proceeded to tell us in great detail the exact date and theatre where he and his family had seen Peter's show. He said that it was the greatest show they had ever seen, and that Peter had also cured him of smoking!

Whether we were in a restaurant or a hotel, Peter received the same reaction at virtually every place we visited while we were in Vancouver. He was always modest and gracious to anyone who recognized him.

Peter walked me around Vancouver, a city he obviously had a great affection for, and he showed me all the theatres he had played. The largest and most impressive was the five-thousand-seat Orpheum Theatre, which over the years had featured literally every major entertainment star.
Reveen had played there on several occasions, including an eight-week, six nights a week, sold-out run in 1962. Peter took me to the stage door of the Orpheum where there was a brass plaque naming the three entertainers who had played this magnificent theatre most frequently. The third most was Victor Borge; the second most was Bob Hope; and the most, by a country mile, was Reveen - a wonderful record that he holds to this day.

Peter was also a joke teller par excellence. Some of his jokes were not for the easily offended, but were always hilarious. When I was living in England it would not be uncommon to receive a phone call from Peter, often in the middle of the night, to tell me his latest batch of jokes (which could last for a couple of hours).

Sadly, for the last few years of his life, Peter suffered from Alzheimer's, but he always managed to raise a smile and a kind word. It was difficult for all his friends to see him like this, but I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of quality time with him and got to appreciate his friendship even more.

Reveen was undoubtedly one of the greatest showmen of this or any century. He knew instinctively what it took to fill a theatre and his publicity stunts always caused a sensation. One stunt that created massive publicity for his show was when Coral, his wife and leading lady, lay on a bed of nails for several hours in the shop window of the main department store in the city.
Having packed the theatre to capacity he would then deliver an exciting and hilarious one-man family-friendly show that ensured people would come back to see it again and again.
One thing is for certain, we will always remember Reveen!

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10. The Orchante Saga - Beginnings
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Written by the late Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)

Sally Ann Phillips

Sally became Mrs Metzger when she married Derek Metzger in London, England in 1986. Derek is another, well-known New Zealand singer, who is making a big name for himself in Australia, where he and Sally now reside - in the beautiful harbour city of Sydney. I will be documenting Derek's story later; meanwhile, it's back to Sally - my very dear friend since 1965, which is now 37 years ago. That is one hellava long friendship!

Born in Plymouth, Devon co, England, Sally's family then moved to a village in Dorset called Wool, which is near Lulworth Cove. Her father went to New Zealand as a diver, working on the building of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Having seen what a great country it was, he decided that the family should move out there. They packed up their thatched cottage and set sail for Aotearoa (New Zealand). The year was 1957. Unfortunately, Sally's dad died in 1958, so he never saw the Bridge completed.

It's not surprising that Sally became involved in show business. Her great-grandfather owned a circus and her grandmother, her mother's mum, was a bareback rider. Sally's mother was also in
the business; she was a member of many repertory theatres and worked with the likes of Robert Morley and Rex Harrison. In fact, Robert Morley attended a V A C Ball (Variety artists' convention) one year and as Sally says: "He and my mum got on famously - he said it was a pleasure to see her again, whether or not he actually remembered her is unlikely, however, they did spend an hour together, chatting away".

It was in 1963, at the 'Crystal Palace' dance hall in Auckland, when Sally (then just a wee slip of a girl), first became involved with New Zealand show business. She met and became friends with Helen Warren, and it was through Helen that Sally started working in the coffee shop at the Crystal Palace, which was owned by Helen's brother, the late Philip Warren. He was later to become a major theatrical promoter - entrepreneur in Auckland, when he bought Fullers Entertainment Bureau from the late George Tollerton, famous New Zealand Ventriloquist during
the 1940s and early 50s. 'Fullers' became a division of 'Prestige Promotions' - Phil being the Managing Director. He eventually became one of Auckland's most famous, congenial and influential Businessmen.

Sally laughingly recalls that there wasn't a hot water system in the coffee lounge of the dance hall, so they had to heat the water up in buckets, using the gas rings on the small stove. I
guess that if they were making coffee by the bucket load, and the punters were happily drinking it by the gallon (and knowing Phil as I did, they were surely paying over the odds for the stuff), it must have tasted okay! Sally still remembers Philip sitting in the tiny box Office, selling entrance tickets into his establishment, the Crystal Palace - for five shillings each; that's probably when he started counting his first million!

A quick aside. I remember another dance hall promoter who was also around in those days - Dave Dunningham. He had the 'Orange Ballroom' which, I think, was in Ponsonby. It was managed by Joe Wheeler. I remember Herma Keil and the 'Keil Isles' played there, with Herma being the lead singer. I think his brother Freddie was involved as well. What 'Blast From The Past' that is. Many Auckland entertainers of my vintage will remember the - 'Orange'. Dave Dunningham had another venue on the North Shore, it was called - 'Surfside'. I used to work my Hypnotism show there. That was fun!

Many N.Z. singers, and other entertainers like comedian Ralph Cohen, worked at the Crystal Palace in those early days, all endeavouring to carve out a reputation for themselves. One of
them was the late Lew Pryme, who was singing in various clubs and dances around Auckland. He and Sally became very close friends, which lasted right up to his much publicised death in 1990, from an aids related disease.

It was either on the night of Wednesday 29th or Friday the 31st of December 1965, at the Rotorua Soundshell, that Sally and her friend Jenny (they were holidaying in Rotorua at the time), were first introduced to us - the 'Demonos' and Orchanté (Peter Newberry, the late Peter Taylor and myself), by Lew Pryme, who was the compere at the Soundshell Xmas shows that year. Sometime after that, Sally and Peter Taylor became an item for a short while; it was through Peter that Sally eventually ended up working with Peter Newberry; that partnership lasted for around 10 - 11 years.

Continues Next Week

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