An angel of another century

Lottie Brunn and the era of shomanship

Another great performer left this world in the last few days. Lottie Brunn was one of the last witness of last century's great shomanship, when mastering an act was a mysterious formula of tantalizing talent, erotic elegance, raucous rythm. And of all the remaining ingredients to make you believe that the performer was part of another world, the ambassador of a kingdom invented to exhilarate you in a happy evening, to then turn into a gentle ghost to wake you the following morning in a regenerate state of grace, to face the ordinary world.
That was Mrs. Brunn, now in the realm of the legend where her brother Francis was waiting before.
They were in a class before stylized rainbow lycras, elaborate face paintings and sophisticated aseptic soundtracks. They were in a class when performing was a matter of personality, smiles, continuous seduction, masterful interaction with a live swing band, and a concept of costumes as going to a court ball twice daily.
Lottie and Francis are now perhaps doing the same up there, very far in the sky, in the same world where this class can last forever: the class of Borra the king of pickpockets; or the gentleman magician Channing Pollock; of the elegant chaotic George Carl; the absurd but aristocratic dancing Doll Family of midgets; the lord of horsemanship Albert Schumann, or Count Basie and his band. An array of smiles, subtle touches of shomanship, white ties, silk dresses, personal lobby photos polished as new shoes, feats of acrobatics or legerdemain presented with the lightness of a joke, to distracted night-club audiences mesmerized for seven long minutes when the world and all is cold wars seemed to stop.
What a century it was. What performers they were.

Donkey on Ice

The unusual comedy art of Karl Kossmayer and his mule (with a new discovery)

One of the most intense circus experiences of my childhood was the act of the “unrideable mules”: in wich a good dozen of spectators is invited to win a prize if able to complete a ring circle on the back of the savage quadrupede, catastrophically ending with the impossible attempts of a quiet but tenacious old man. Later, you could have spent weeks puzzling if he was a genuine spectator or some kind of strange performer.

For me, the image of the little old gentleman, approaching the ring with his program in the hands, pursued by his wife and finishing to lost his pants, was a shock. A contrast between the greatest humor and a feel of unease; a masterpiece on the border between fiction and reality, completely played on the separation line between the shadowy space of the audience and the bright territory of the performer. Was this man from the circus? Nobody could really answer in front of the immense showmanship of Karl Kossmayer. A perfect illusion in which, long before Wharol, everybody was promised five minutes of celebrity. And, slowly during the act, this little character carried to the ring a perfect history of an universal retired middle-class type, life-dominated by his wife’s discipline, and wasting in few second all his life’s boring dignity to reach the impossible world of the clowns.

This was great drama, revolutioning the roles of the theatre far before the avant-gardes. An actor impersonating a spectator who wants to be an actor, without declaring to be acting… Pirandello was nothing, compared to Kossmayer.

Karl Kossmayer (1917-2000), from a great trainers family, started his act in 1928, and with it toured the globe, generating imitators all around the world. His sister Julie impersonated perfectly “the wife”. Starring with the best jugglers, acrobats, clowns, trainers of his time, his act was so strong on the audience that the only place to put it was mostly to close the program.

The act was filmed by the great Jacques Tati as part of his circus movie “Parade”, in 1974 (mostly of the movie critics are still thinking that this perfect act was a Tati’s idea).

And now, our little discovery.
In fact, we have found also an unusual clip. Kossmayer toured briefly in Usa with Holiday on Ice of 1960. That’s it.
They used to put for few minutes a carpeted circus ring on the ice and display the mule act. And the comedy effect was emphasized immensely when Karl repeatly covered on ice the distance between his loge seat and the circus ring, with a masterful catalog of falls and trips. Unfortunately, his American success was short, because, for safety issue, audience members were discouraged to test their skills with the “dangerous” mule. The homeland of rodeos was starting to be politically correct also for the masters of European circus artistry.

I became friend with Karl in his last years, always sharing wonderful times visiting the Monte Carlo Festival.

Today we wants to divulgate his art to the new generations of the world, with a double tribute: his act in the traditional version, from the mentioned Tati movie; and our discovered excerpt of the way he did it on Holiday on Ice, from a forgotten Ed Sullivan special.

Little Tich and Loie Fuller

The pioneer of clown and the ancestor of dance

We already paied our tribute to Litlle Tich, presenting the irresistible film of his "long boots" act, the first recorded comic movie (filmed in 1900) and, according to Jacques Tati "the root of everything is basic in the art of the comic film".
In times of pionnerism in everything (we are around year 1900), Tich had another illustrious contemporary walking the stages: Miss Loie Fuller, who with his "danse serpentine" revolutioned the concept itself of ballet. The fast, modern dynamism of her variety specialty, with elaborated light effects, was captured in various way: the poster art of Chéret, the early photographers, the study on motion of Tolouse-Lautrec itself and finally a certain Mr.Louis Lumiére who was experimenting on the moving image. In fact, Miss Fuller's act was filmed and hand colored as early as 1898.


Then, the encounter.

Miss Fuller was a star. And Little Tich was the king of parody. They even happened to share the same Folies-Bergères stage. So was almost natural for the great little comic to add in his repertory his version of the Fuller's serpentine dance. And, as for the "big boot", this act too was filmed for the posterity even is less known and very short. It is preserved in some movie archives. According our vocation for wonderous novelties, we searched, find it and posted on youtube.

Now, in the following video windows, please compare the two stars: Loie Fuller's original movie by Lumiére of 1898, and the Little Tich's genial version of 1900.

Back on Borra

Not just a pickpocket

The prodigious act of Borra, while based on theatrical pickpocketing, started with excuse for other odd talents, as in the tradition of every great of the variety and circus stage.
The master opened silently his act with an enchanting routine of smoke rings, then with a masterful ball manipulations, always surrounded by the gazes of the circus audience.
We unhearted a too brief excerpt of Borra's opening from a British newreel from the late 40s, when he was appearing at Bertram Mill's Circus, at London's Olympia hall.
And we promptly posted it on youtube, for your pleasure and future memory.

Variation Virtuosisms of Musical Marvels

Asking for your excuse for the past silent week, our appropriate choice is to be loud, turning on music.

Before mp3 and even gramophone, to appreciate the virtuosism of music was necessary to step into the kingdoms of variety, early vaudeville, circus or travelling fair theatres. This was the realm of peculiar instruments or musician virtually unknown by nature or human science.
It was the paradise of foot-bell ringers, elephant orchestras, lilliputian full bands, vegetable players, upside down pianists, unycicle brass ensembles and thousands of other variations.

Today’s gallery is a small tribute to the immense musical population of this era.

Igor Kio, the tzar of illusions

Imperial mysteries of Soviet magic

Today not one but a couple of little gems for the scholars of the unusual, specifically dedicated to the lovers of magic.

When magic was still a flamboyant ingenuous theatre art and the Soviet Circus the largest contingent of bizarre entertainment of the planet, the Kio magic family was not less exagerate in his grandiosity than a zar dinasty.

Igor Kio sen., then his sons Igor jun. and Emil, used to have each a one-hour show filling half of the circus program. Each of them travelling the world with his own staff of magic technicians, magic dancers, magic animals, magic clowns, magic dwarves, band leader conducting a 40-pieces jazz orchestra and the most unimaginable paraphernalia that the sovietic technology could have assured during the cold war to a magic show. In Moscow they had shops and engineers to build continuously new shows and misteriously perplexing apparata. Magic as a metaphor of occult powers of deception from the East? Maybe, if you like it that way.

Here you can witness, even in their brevity, two classic of magic emphasized by the full spectacularity of the socialist realism era, starring Igor Kio jun.

One is the magic of waters turned into ducks. The other one is the most spectacular version ever staged of the “cremation of a woman”, enjoying the height and space possibilities of a round circus ring.

If you like, you will be treated with more.

The Bible of the Circus

Now, that’s really big. The size: 20 x 13 x 3.3 inches (50,8 x 33 x 8,4 cm). Just imagine the corresponding weight. Alive in the inside, 900 images, 760 pages. No way to hold it in your hands. The printing, design and fabrication are the best you can even dream.

Circus literature through the centuries is an infinite, exciting and surprising landscape of marvels. But this one risks to be the best circus book ever. If legendary bibliographer Toole-Stoot was alive, he would have jumped from his chair.

Where our inconsiderate enthusiasm generates for “Circus 1870-1950”, just published internationally by Taschen? This book has an interesting approach to the circus, reflecting the identity itself of the big top divertissements: the emphasis on size, richness, exageration, surprise, rarity, colossal cornucopia of never-ending wonders.

The recipe of this masterpiece of a book is just the same of the glorious circuses of a bygone era: assemble the bigger and the best ever. So, take the world’s best publishing house in the field of illustration (Taschen); treat the reader with the finest available paper choice wrapped with a solid, elegant, bible-like cover. Assemble for the first time ever those considered as the four most prestigious circus collections in the world: The Circus World Museum of Baraboo; the Tibbals Collection at the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota; if not enough, the antique prints from the Pascal Jacob – Williams collection at Tohu in Montreal; and, just to top the cake, the generous paraphernalia from not less that Ricky Jay. To write competent essays, the editors (Noel Daniel and Linda Granfield) called the most world-encyclopedic circus historian walking today upon the face of the globe: Dominique Jando, with, as a guest star, the best fact-checker that the sawdust mitology ever knew in his long history, Fred Dahlinger. The picture captions are enhanced by a crowded constellation of small gems: circus-waxing quotes incessantly fleeding thru the pages from the pen of Steinbeck, Hemingway, De Mille, and dozen of others.

Now, this was enough to fill such a project. But is just the beginning. In fact, Taschen digged in other collections revealing in the best splendor possible the great gems of circus photography: legends as F.W.Glasier and E.Kelty. And with them, Mathew Brady, Cornell Capa, Walker Evans, Weegee, Lisette Model, Charles and Ray Eames. The odd and unusual, too: they unearthed never-before seen circus photos taken by a young Stanley Kubrick (!). And, for the first time in print, the first existing colour photos of a circus, with the polaroid series of C.Cushman visiting Ringling’s (a treasure until today hidden at the Illinois University). Jando and Dahlinger investigated the identity of performers and acts compiling precious captions for the reader. The sideshow art is not forgotten: with the works of banner artists Nieman Eisman, Fred G. Johnson, and David "Snap" Wyatt.

Just an example of how surprising is this treasure chest: the following magnificent picture, taken in 1948 at Ringling's circus, is one of the first colour photos of a circus ever taken. But, if this is not enough to amaze, there's something more about it.

In fact, the photographer was a young reporter from "Look" magazine called Stanley Kubrick.

The experience of this book for the circus lover, generates the same awe to stay in front of a Holy Bible for a religious. For those of us that are not initiated to the circus, the sense is probably of the same awe, witnessing here the bizarre repository of a colossal religion, almost gone, but still able to surprise and disturb.

The price is according to the pachidermism of the whole, too: 200 dollars in the Usa or 150 Euros for the european market. But you can be sure that it worths the double.

Oh, and they even remembered our friend Blacaman...

Karandash, a King among Klowns

In concentrating our attentions on the most bizarre anomalies of the performing humanity, too often we forget the beauty of pure comedy.

We promise to our smiling followers to concentrate more of our future researches on peculiar and obscure achievements in the art of laughmaking, possibly in his most virtuosistic and inusual ways. For the followers of this speciality, we also remember you the existence of our friend sites www.clownalley.net, and www.circomelies.blogspot.com, more faithfully devoted to clowns.

Today we unearth a Soviet clip of the 50s: a circus reprise of Karandash (Mihail Rumyantsev, 1901-83), the pioneer of the legendary russian clowning, from a documentary of the time.

His artist’s name means “pencil”: his speciality was the social and political parody (often of the strongest ans shocking nature), as a sort of living cartoon strip, against capitalism and western society. Nothing apparently remains today to witness this strange kind of clowning confusely based on Hitler pigs, Uncle Sam’s pagliaccis and similar strange gags. The only, rare, surviving Karandash material is classic clowning, but at his best.

Karandash started as a Chaplin emule, to quickly develope his own style and tour the world with the Soviet State Circus companies. We hope he will amuse you still today, as he did for millions around the globe.

Defying the Bullets

Heroes and tragedies of the legendary “bullet catch trick”

“Don't try the bullet-catching trick. There is always the biggest kind of risk that some dog will 'job' you. And we can't afford to lose Houdini. Harry, listen to your friend Kellar, who loves you as his own son, and don't do it!”
(Letter from magician Harry Kellar to Houdini)

In 1918, few years before this letter, magician Chung Ling Soo was killed onstage during his most popular act, “Condemed to Death by the Boxers”: or, catching a bullet from a rifle with his teeths. Perhaps the best known famous tragedy from the golden era of stage entertainment, this was not at all the first of his kind.

Performing the same feat, in 1820s Torrini “count” de Grisy shot on stage his own son; his contemporary De Linsky killed his wife. Before them, as back as 1613, Coulew de Lorraine was killed by an assistant; later, Kia Khan Kruse by a spectator in 1818, and Edvin Lindberg in 1905. The mentioned De Linky shot himself in 1820. Arnold Buck (1840) died when a volunteer secretly added nails to the gun; Adam Epstein (1869), used to ram home the balls in the rifle barrel, broke inside the gun; he was killed by wand shards. Raoul Curran was killed in 1880 by a member of the audience who jumped up out of his seat and shot him without warning; deLine Jr (1890) died when his magician father shot him onstage. Michael Hatal (1899) failed to switch blank cartridges for the real bullets that killed him; Otto “Bosco” Blumenfeld (1906) also failed to switch bullets as, later, H. T. Sartell; "The Black Wizard of the West" (1922) lost his life when his wife purposely fired live bullets at him. Ralf Bialla (1972) fell off a cliff because of constant dizziness caused by injuries from bullet catching act; Doc Conrad (1977) was killed during practice of the Russian Roulette trick, a version of the Bullet Catch; Fernando Tejada (1988) killed onstage during a performance in Columbia.

With much more chance and success, fortunately is also possible to attempt a list of survivors in magically catching a bullet, even if the catalogue is shorter. It can be unespectedly initiated by Sergeant Philip Astley, the very same inventor of the moder circus, that in the 1780s falsely proclamed to be the inventor of this more ancient trick. John Henry Anderson, great wizard of the North safely popularized it; as J.E. Robert-Houdin, Alexander and brave Adelaide Hermann.

Then, in the slowly fading of magic golden era, Theo Annemann, Rooklyn with his shoulders protected by a chainmail, Jean Hugard with the South African army pointing at his heart, the spectacular Ralf Bialla from Germany, Milbourne Cristopher, Dorothy Dietrich, Paul Daniels, up to today’s Penn and Teller with their remarkable version.

But a lesson in showmanship performing this piece of magic can be surely have an example in master British mentalist Maurice Fogel: we recently discovered him in the “bullet catch” from a rare vintage newsreel.

Antropomorphic Amenities

Naumann’s incredible tiger

The circus ring is always been the temple for every possible anthropomorphic feat for every kind of animal creature.

Sharpshooter parrots, boxing kangaroos, athletic porcupines, hockey player bears, military monkeys, panthers riding yaks, horse riding bears, pyramids of panthers, soothsayer poneys, poker player poodles, clarvoyant pigs, tigers dancing with elephants, crocodiles wrestling with men, scorpions insidiating women, lions balancing on trapeze, hippopotamus ordering meals, rats driving a train, a rabbit fire brigade estinguishing the flames at a cat’s house, giraffes running along with rhinoceros, guitarrist gorillas, polar bears firing with rifles, elephants descending toboggans, girls fighting piranhas.

You, as faithful followers of this blog, are likely subject to be exposed to few of those feats and more in the future.

Today, we wish to remember one of the most impressive and spectacular feats ever obtained by the man with the animal.

It is the case of the german trainer Heinz Naumann, that in the 60s presented around Europe and in the Usa his high-diving jump along with his tiger Rajah. Naumann was a former U-boot German marine. After being war prisoner, by 1945 he turned himself tiger trainer in South America. With a patient approach in growing tiger cubs, he was able to obtain exceptional results. We unhearthed an existing clip of his diving stunt, performed in Berlin Deutschlandhalle: it is very brief, just 19 seconds. As short and intense as a human cannonball performance, but worth to witness.

In the picture: Naumann with Rajah

Borra, the king of thieves

Today, back on the subject of pickpocket, with new exciting discoveries.



















Few acts in the last century had the success and reputation of Borra, the king of the pickpocket.
Austrian-born Borilslav Miljolkovich, perfectly speaking 12 languages, with his exceptional personality amused and surprised the world, headlining the créme of circuses and varieties in both the emispheres, often with special poster art.

We have been lucky enough to know him and to witness his miracles around the world.








We recently unearthed a peculiar proof of Borra's perplexing pickpocket powers: a private press performance for Scotland Yard, while appearing at Bertram Mills circus in London.
We punctually posted it on Youtube for your pleasure.

We love when entertainers deals with the most primal and dramatic elements of human's poor existence: fear, death, blood, sex, deformity, sadism, mysticism, crime, money, trickery. All is about survive, and we witness performers to be reassured. Or troubled. We love when a great performance is able do do that, and their talents representing a potential real risk for the umanity. And we love when they are able to do this with laughs.
Borra was of this class.
And this is just the beginning. More about him in future.
For now, Borra's film at Scotland Yard.

N.B.: it is a silent footage. But not for this deprived of charme.

New Blacaman Gallery

A further and exhaustive (but not definitive) chapter on the infinite subject of crocodile hypnotism (with a turn on lions).

Reiterating and interlacing topics is one of our preferred entertainment in assuring our discoveries to the world. This not to deny that new and surprising subject will be assured.
We knows: crocodiles and fakirs are one of our preeminent obsessions. Promising you to soon divert from this area, please let us submit you this innocent gallery pertaining Blacaman second area of activity: the hypnotism over lions and crocodiles.
At the end of his act, he had a square cage built on stage, and with his obscure hypnotic powers, in a complicate italian jargon, he reduced the turbolent kings of the forest to his will, without whips, hoops or others circensis paraphernalia.
And this was anticipated by this same power over crocodiles: after all, he was the teacher of Koringa, who acted as a "nurse" in the master's act, before to take her way.

Please admire in today's gallery the poster art for those Blacaman's animal submission feats.


















Now compare the European graphics with the American posters below.
In fact, in 1939, Blacaman was contracted in the U.S.A. at the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus (a secondary but prestigious operation owned by Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey).




During this period, the master fakir appeared on the Universal movie "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man", directed by George Marshall and filmed in that circus. This vehicle for W.C.Fields and Ed Bergen dedicated few minutes to Blacaman helping Al McCarthy to get out of a crocodile mouth, and a splendid excerpt of his lion act. If some good soul can post the segments on Youtube, we will highly appreciate.

Water Spouter Extraordinaire

The legendary Hadji Ali act

As promised, we are back on the theme of "human hydrants" and regurgitators, and his most prestigious exponent: Hadji Ali.
In the 20s, when vaudeville was in the endless search of the unique to amaze audience in both emisphere, he was in the perfect context sharing the bill with talking heads, mice eaters, human gazometers, syrian soothsayers, living calculators and autobolide jumpers.
His act is one of the phisically most extremes that ever left recorded from this era. We have found it, promptly posted and we offer it to you today. It was filmed as part of "Politiquerias", a Spanish-language extended version of the Laurel and Hardy movie "Chicken comes Home".
Following the announcement of the very special emcee, spanish-speaking Oliver Hardy, you will a seven standard minute classic act. And you will not admire just the stunts and feats of the performer. You will admire them polished and routined in what was truly inteded an act: with all the grace, style, subtle humour, little tips, personality, elegance and the experienced rythm that music-hall showmanship used to be.

The Pleasure of Piercing Performances

The great Kirokaya and few forgotten fakirs

While today body piercing is an accepted social and artistic practice (as it used to be in earlier civilizations), fifty years ago it was still a novelty for circus goers.
In the late 60s, circuses started to book fakirs who, beside cataleptic creativity and fire funambolisms, pierced their bodies with a plethora of penetrating pins.
It happened in France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, under small and large big tops or on the theatre stages of big and rural towns. Producers used to set vaudeville touring units called "festival of mistery" or such; and circuses called the audience replacing on posters clowns and elephants with fakirs.


Among those was Johnson, "the gentleman fakir", emphasizing his stage dandyesque elegance with his repulsive feats.

But the most impressive was Kirokaya: billed from Nepal but probably european. After some feats of piercing, he invited spectator in the ring to have fun throwing darts into his back. At the end of his act, having inserted hooks in his chest, he pulled a small cart with four men on the top, with the only driving force of his skin.


Kirokaya became a star in Italy in the late 60s and early 70s, during his succesful tours with the famous Darix Togni circus. We have lost his traces today.

Below, there is a newsreel clip of one of the many "occult festivals" organized in France in the 60s. It was a surreal conclave of performers happily inflicting themselves all kind of tortures.
We discovered that one of them, the fakir wearing glasses, is Kirokaya in person.

Today the world is more used to the sport of piercing and to the aficionado gatherings. Tatoo shops are at every corner.
Let's remember for few instants to a time, just few decades ago, when all that still stimulated the wonderful conflict between pleasure and repulsion.