Page 172 - Redditch People

Redditch People

I can remember some of the tricks he performed including the coin snatch, the sixpenny
Woolworths tin kettle trick which involved pouring a wide selection of drinks from an
empty kettle and giving them to the audience to drink afterwards, and throwing the kettle
away for anyone to take home. I remember going home and trying to do the tricks
exactly as shown, none worked. He concluded the show with a spectacular firing a girl
from a cannon situated at the rear left hand corner of the stage into a net on the front
right hand corner. A short time afterwards, he was doing this trick in a northern theatre
and when the girl landed in the net she was struck on the temple by a supporting post,
and she died. It was hushed up for obvious reasons, but a short time afterwards he had
another girl performing the same thing.”

“I was first involved as a performer at the age of 14 years in 1944 and appeared as a tap
dancer with the Show of Shows Company, This was the Elsie Siddele Downing’s Redditch
Stage School, during the 1940s she presented a week long show every August and an
original pantomime, written by her, every January. The profits were given

A poster from one of Colin's Old Tyme Musical Shows
(Source: Colin Wheeler)

Page: 172 © RLHS 2015