BREAKING INTO THE VAUDEVILLE GAME by David J. Lustig (Knowledge and Inside Dope Which Will Aid the Amateur To Become a Vaudeville Artiste.) I have received numerous letters from people in all walks of life asking me how one goes about it when they wish to adopt the vaudeville stage as a means of livelihood.Continue reading “Want a Tip? Stay Out of Show Business.”
Author Archives: jamesdmacdonald
Where I’ll Be This Weekend
We’re talking the 18th and 19th of May. I’ll be in Fremont, NH, at the New Hampshire Renaissance Faire, doing magic. Come find me, say “Amaze me!” and I’ll do my best. Remember the magic words: Hey, Kids, Don’t Try This At Home!
A Complete Silk Act
One of the perennial topics in these parts goes something like this: “I’ve signed up for a talent show. What should I do?” Let me make a suggestion, under the rubric “everything old is new again.” In Jean Hugard‘s Silken Sorcery (1937), the last chapter describes the Stillwell Silk Act. Here’s what Hugard says: CHAPTER XII THEContinue reading “A Complete Silk Act”
Nowhere Near Fun
Madeleine Robins I remember the Big Three of Childhood Diseases because I had all of them. I am of that vintage where I was young enough to be vaccinated against smallpox and polio (for which I am abundantly grateful, let me tell you). But I had mumps (on at least one side), and rubella, (andContinue reading “Nowhere Near Fun”
That’s Entertainment!
From Miscellaneous Handkerchief Tricks That You Can Do : Including a fifteen minute act “The Silky Slicker” by George De Lawrence, published by Gerald Heaney, Berlin, Wisconsin, 1921. Pages 32-33. You absolutely cannot succeed in these modern days of “jazz” and “goloshes” by merely being a magician; you must be an entertainer; therefore I haveContinue reading “That’s Entertainment!”
JAMES D. MACDONALD 