Blackstone and Me

Seville Theatre Montreal About 1950, the King of Magicians, The Great Blackstone, came to Montreal to perform at the Seville Theatre on St. Catherine Street West. As a small boy, I was immensely excited to see the great magician. I wore a new, bright red shirt I had received for my birthday in honour of the occasion. The Great Blackstone dazzled everyone in the audience. He was both distinguished and dignified and every inch of what one might have expected a magician to be.

Part way through the show, he asked for a volunteer from the audience. The house lights went up, and although the theatre sported 1148 seats, peering into the audience, he spotted my red shirt. "That boy." he said pointing at me. "That boy with the red shirt. Come up here!"

Not knowing what to expect, I sheepishly headed up the stairs and onto the stage. Although this was my first "public" performance he put me instantly at ease. A brief bit of conjuring and from a rolled up newspaper he magically produced a box of chocolates and gave them to me as a prize to keep. Thinking I was finished, I started back to my seat, but he stopped me and kept me on stage.

And then came his piece-de-resistance. He asked rather loudly, "If you were to have a bunny rabbit, what would you name it?" Naturally, I was at a complete loss for words at this unexpected question. Suddenly, under his breath, I clearly heard his voice saying to ask "Was it a boy or a girl?" The audience hadn't heard him. I couldn't believe it: was he a ventriloquist too? Again he prompted me, "Ask, is it a boy or a girl?"

"Is it a boy or a girl?" I demanded. I didn't see the humour in it but the audience roared with laughter.

And so it went, with the Great Blackstone asking me questions and whispering to me the answers.

Another bit of conjuring and from the rolled up newspaper appeared a live, bunny rabbit.

The audience cheered and he released me to go back to my seat, chocolates, bunny, and all.

Harry Blackstone was born Harry Bouton in 1885 and lived in Colon, Michigan. At the age of 16, he began his magic career on stage in Chicago and steadily grew in popularity as he performed in vaudeville and on Broadway for the next three decades. He entertained millions of troops at United Service Organizations during World War II and was especially famous for his "dancing handkerchief" and the rabbits he gave away to children in the audience.

He was the master of split second timing and could easily misdirect the audience' attention, creating successful illusions. The town of Colon treasured Harry's colourful personality and renamed Main Street after him in the early 1960s. Harry died in 1965 and was buried in Colon, Michigan.

My stage appearance wasn't the end of my encounter with the Great Blackstone. After the show was over, my mother took me around the corner for refreshment at the local coffee shop. And sitting there in the coffee shop was non other than the Great Blackstone himself. My mother thanked him for the rabbit (which we had given away on leaving the theatre) and we took our seat at a neighbouring table. It was the last time I saw the Great Blackstone though his son, Harry Blackstone Jr. was also a famous magician (and actor), following in his father's footsteps. Harry Junior died of pancreatic cancer in Loma Linda, California, in 1997.

The Blackstones are gone now but their memory lives on in those like me who remember and cherish the day they met the Great Blackstone.