Harry Tsuda was an exceptional equilibrist and balancer who toured Australia in 1916-1917, as one of many American performers who came during the early years of the war. Harry seemed assured and confident in all he did. This was necessary due to the incredible balancing feats he performed. He gave candid and probably not quite candid interviews to the press and certainly lived up to the reputation of his famous mother, the notorious Adele Purvis Onri.
Harry claimed 1885 as his date of birth on his passport and the place as San Francisco. The same passport had a hand written note which said ‘My father died when I was three and I am unsure if he was a citizen’. Sometimes Harry said he was born in Japan, but usually he gave the US as his native land.
Harry said in interviews that his father was a rich man from Tokyo who sent him to university in the US. After trying to complete degrees in dentistry and engineering, the pull of athletics was too strong, and he decided on a vaudeville career. This could have been true, but it is hard to reconcile with the fact that he performed in London in 1902, as little Tsuda.
Whilst in Australia, Harry also talked about his mother, Adele Purvis Onri. She was the daughter of well-known English circus proprietor Henry Brown, and performed around the world doing a serpentine dance and juggling on a spherical ball. Harry recalled that he gained his ability to smile while performing difficult feats due to Adele’s coaching. She would stand on the side of the stage harassing him as he balanced, with heckles such as ‘ Look at that face, surely he’s been to a funeral’ ‘ I suppose he just can’t smile’. As a result Harry spent hours in front of a mirror practising smiling whilst balancing on a sphere. A modern interpretation might be that Adele was a bullying stage mother, but it was probably an acceptable practice considering vaudeville and circus culture at the time.
Harry performed with Adele in London in 1902-03 and also in the United States in 1906-07. Soon he began a solo professional career as Tsuda, the Japanese balancer. His act evoked applause, gasps and shock. He thrilled every audience that saw him.
In Australia, a Melbourne newspaper gave an in depth description of his act;
Tsuda places a large white sphere on top of a table, climbs on the sphere, drags up a chair, climbs on it, takes up another chair surmounts it, and then begins to do all sorts of difficult acrobatic feats… bringing his work to a climax by balancing himself head down from the top of a swaying pile while he picks up a handkerchief with his teeth.
According to newspaper accounts ‘ He was ‘as much at home head downwards as most people are in a normal attitude’. His daring feats had audiences holding their breath and cheering wildly when he safely returned to stand on the stage.
Harry arrived in Australia, at the invitation of Ben Fuller, in July 1916. He opened in Sydney then proceeded to Melbourne where he was ‘loudly applauded.’ By September he was in Perth and described as ‘a past master at making you hold your breath’ . Harry’s act was different for Australian audiences and this ensured his popularity. He gave several interviews and in one he addressed some of the issues of contemporary society.
It was sixteen years after Federation and the White Australia Policy was a plank of the new constitution .Australia was at war, and there was a rising fear of an ‘Asian invasion’.
Harry was very intelligent and addressed these fears and whilst doing so subtly played the racism of his white audiences.
‘ I think it can be claimed with all sincerity that the Japanese are thoroughly in sympathy with British institutions and ideals… I can assure you the thinking Japanese are not anxious to transplant Japan into either California or Australia but seek only to broaden their own views in order to continue the enlightenment of their countrymen.’
This is a rare instance of an Asian performer speaking on the issue of race at the time.
Harry’s tour coincided with the tour of juggler Archie Onri, who was engaged on the Tivoli circuit. Archie may have been a relative of Adele, but neither man acknowledged this, although they performed at least once in the same city at the same time.
In December 1916 Harry went to New Zealand and remained there until February 1917. In March he reprised his act in Sydney and performed in regional areas of the state. In April he was described as a ‘very small Japanese’ who performed ‘one of the most novel and exciting turns presented in vaudeville.’
In May he returned to Melbourne and in June was in Queensland where ‘his principal act of balancing two ordinary chairs on a sphere at hair raising angles and then balancing on the backs of each by his hands with feet in the air simply brought down the house.’
After almost a year in Australasia, Harry returned to the United States. He told Australian reporters that a dramatic role was waiting for him, but he soon resumed the balancing act.
Harry maintained a solid vaudeville career in the United States and continued in balancing until 1926. In October that year he was performing for a small independent circuit in Pennsylvania when he fell. He died in hospital a day later from a broken neck.
Harry was a well liked and extremely skilled performer who was very popular in Australia. His photograph is a reminder of this extraordinary artist’s visit during the trying years of World War one.