Visiting Jugglers of the 1950s and 1960s

 I've been looking at some programmes and found these lovely pictures of jugglers who visited Australia during the 1950s-1960s

Rudy Horn

From the programme of The Diamond Horseshoe at the Tivoli Melbourne c1958/59

An amazing feature of his act is that he juggles seven balls on a drum in time to music without missing a beat.

Alcetty- c 1958/59 From Funfiesta Programme Tivoli Sydney

The D'angolys- Tivoli Melbourne Programme 1962

..One of the fastest juggling acts in the world today and consists of Jose...and lovely Gilda

Ugo Garrido- 1965 Sydney Tivoli Programme

He started hand juggling at a very early age and after becoming proficient at it began juggling clubs with his feet and now has become as proficient with his feet as with his hands

Here are your tickets- Enjoy the show!

Frank, Lank and Alice- 'The only juggler in Australia juggling three clubs in one hand..."

 Frank, Lank and Alice was a prominent Australian juggling trio during the First World War. Frank, born David Francis Uren, was the straight man and most skilled juggler, Lank, W .Thompson, was a juggler and comedian, whilst Alice, Alice Johnson, was a contortionist and juggler.

David Francis Uren was born in Victoria in 1894. His father, Thomas, was a miner, who later bought a pub near Melbourne. The Uren family was large, and David, whose stage name was ‘Frank Uren,’ had many siblings and cousins in Victoria.

Frank began his juggling career as a teenager. His first recorded professional engagement was in 1911 with Jones Moving Theatre. He was billed as ‘the London Juggler’ and was 17 years old. Carl Bracken, a strong man and wire walker was also performing with Jones at that time.

Shortly after this, Carl and Frank teamed up and began touring Australia with small variety troupes. Carl walked the wire, juggled and re-enacted Cinquevalli’s cannon ball trick, catching a cannon ball on his shoulders, whilst Frank juggled clubs, plates and balls.

Carl Bracken- Frank's first partner

In March 1912, Frank juggled lighted torches, plates and clubs in Devonport Tasmania with Coronation Circus. In July that year, he and Carl were in South Australia en route to Western Australia. In August, they appeared at the Shaftesbury theatre in Perth. They used different names, Carl and Frank Brackens, or The Urens. As The Brackens they incorporated a loop the loop turn with a bicycle and as The Urens they were ‘the greatest juggling act ever seen.’

They were still in Western Australia in October 1912 and advertised as The Urens. They were ‘Australia’s Comedy Jugglers’, manipulating, ‘balls, plates, racquets, clubs, hats etc with perfect ease' and finishing with a grand finale of juggling 6 fiery torches. This later became one of Frank’s specialties.

Frank and Carl parted ways after a year, and by 1913 Frank was working as a solo act at Her Majesty’s in Geelong, Victoria. He was with another small variety company, Coles Vaudeville, and advertised as an ‘expert sensational juggler.’

However, the next year, Frank was again part of a duo. He had met his future wife, Alice Johnson, a contortionist. They appeared in October 1914 as Frank and Alice, in Townsville Queensland, between movie showings. Alice was born in 1899 in Balmain, Sydney, and was thus 15 when she and Frank teamed up.

Life on the vaudeville circuit in Australia was difficult. Performers commonly complained about the    quality of the food , they were often underpaid or refused wages, accommodation was basic, and the constant travelling was uncomfortable. It may have been an exciting adventure for two young performers such as Frank and Alice, but they were also inexperienced and open to exploitation. A duo was less vulnerable than a solo performer, and the comfort of a partner would have helped when dealing with unscrupulous employers.

When war was declared in 1914, many young male performers immediately enlisted to support ‘Mother England’. This created vacancies and opportunities in Australia’s larger vaudeville circuits, the Tivoli and Fullers, for acts that were languishing with smaller troupes.

In 1915, Frank and Alice added another member to their team, Lank. He was later identified as W (perhaps William) Thompson and was a comedian. Together they became Frank, Lank and Alice, a combined juggling, contortionist, comedy trio.

Thompson’s real name was rarely used in descriptions of their performances. Perhaps he relished the anonymity. A William Thompson occasionally appeared on the same bill as Frank, Lank and Alice, and it’s possible that this was Lank, supplementing his pay with another comedic turn.

In Queensland, in 1915, the threesome appeared between movies in a performance which included acrobatics. Lank was ‘droll and witty’, and they were described as ‘expert jugglers’

In March that year Lank was being praised for his Chaplin impression which was part of the act. The newspaper said that ‘In addition to his makeup- his walk, actions, and impressions are Chaplin to the life.’ In December, in Broken Hill, Alice also received plaudits, with the local paper noting that ‘Miss Alice contributed some graceful and clever contortionist work’

 They had perfected their 10-minute turn. Frank was the straight man and Lank the clown. Lank casually walked across the stage as Chaplin and stole Frank’s clubs to much applause and laughter. Then Alice joined the men for juggling and the trio juggled up to a ‘dozen’ clubs from one side of the stage to the other. Frank then juggled lighted torches as a finale.

On the cover of Variety

In February 1916, 17-year-old Alice Johnson married 22-year-old David Francis Uren in Balmain in Sydney. At that time they were sporadically employed by the second most important vaudeville company in the country, Fullers. A week after the wedding, Frank, Lank and Alice were on the cover of Australia’s Variety Magazine.

The accompanying article described the trio as youthful and attentive to their work. It said that they had improved greatly over the last twelve months and the ‘excellence’ of their act meant it was ‘fit to take a prominent place on any bill.’ It was high praise from an influential publication.

In August 1916, Frank did a brief solo run in Newcastle for Smith’s vaudeville. He was advertised as juggling five clubs and as the only juggler in Australia who could juggle three clubs in one hand.

War was raging overseas, and the population was suffering. It is likely that Frank was exempted from war service due to ill health and Lank may also have had an exemption. There was no conscription during World War 1, but social pressure to enlist was immense. The previous April had seen the disaster at Gallipoli, and society was tense and angry with those who did not serve.

Considering the times, it seemed appropriate for Fullers to present a pantomime to cheer the home crowd and stir up nationalist fervour. The result was The Bunyip, one of the biggest pantomimes ever staged and Frank, Lank and Alice were an integral part of the show.

Bunyip concerned the adventures of a Fairy Princess, Wattle Blossom, her paramour Arthur, the son of a squatter, and the evil gnome king who turned Wattle into a Bunyip. Included in the show were several sumptuous Australian themed scenes, including ‘The Corroboree.’ Frank, Lank, and Alice appeared in a transition scene which led to the corroboree extravaganza. In ‘black disguise,’ presumably black face, they threw boomerangs over the heads of the audience and caught them as they returned. They also juggled Nulla, Nullas, Aboriginal throwing sticks, fire sticks (torches) and spears. In preparation for the role, they were also, according to the press, watching news reels of authentic Corroborees.

When the pantomime opened in Sydney, Alice was heavily pregnant. In December 1916, during the run, she gave birth to Virginia Wattle Blossom Uren.

The panto toured the country and Frank, Lank and Alice and Virginia toured with it.  It was usually produced at Christmas and Easter in Sydney and Melbourne. Between performances, the trio appeared in Fuller’s theatres in Australia and New Zealand. In June 1917 they were at the Bijou in Melbourne and had added plate spinning to the act.

They stayed with Fullers until the end of the war, mixing pantomime performances with individual shows. By 1919 they were back on the suburban and country circuit performing between movies.

In 1920 they went to New Zealand for a brief tour. They were warmly received, and their club spinning was described as ‘highly spectacular’.  The ‘interlude,’ when Frank spun lighted torches,  was also popular.

Later that year they returned to Australia and performed in Rockhampton Queensland.

‘The vaudeville turn provided by Frank, Lank and Alice is fully entitled to be labelled delightful. The artists manipulate brightly ornamented clubs with the ease and grace of born entertainers. Lank walks unconcernedly across the stage, and off it, with a club or two collected from Frank’s performance, en passant, so to speak, which is most amusingly clever. Frank does most of the real work- that with torches being unique- and the lady appears to be as gracefully clever as the other two altogether. The turn won unstinted applause.’

This was one of their last performances. Frank was ill with tuberculosis. In 1921, he, Alice and daughter Virginia were living with his family at their hotel, the Great Western near Melbourne. In October, Frank’s cousin, Tommy, was in a prize fight, and Frank went to the event. The next day, he went out ‘motoring’ returned home, and then, unexpectedly, died in his sleep. He was 27 years old.

Frank was eulogised as ‘a clean-living husband who was a credit to the vaudeville profession’ and as ‘Australia’s greatest club juggler.’ He left Alice a widow with a young daughter.

The Uren family was large and supportive, and Fullers also provided support for the young woman. She was almost immediately employed as a ballet mistress with the vaudeville chain and from that experience she created a ballet school in Melbourne which had a long and distinguished history. Alice remarried in 1924 but maintained her professional name as Alice Uren. Her daughter Virginia appeared in a Fullers pantomime as a child and in later life worked in radio. She had a society marriage in 1939 and had at least one child.

Virginia's wedding in The Age newspaper society pages

W Thompson, Lank, is more difficult to trace. He was apparently in Queensland when news of Frank’s death broke. He praised Frank as a good man. Thompson may have continued his career with Fullers.

Alice died in 1979 after a long and distinguished career as a contortionist, juggler, ballet and dance teacher.

Frank. Lank and Alice did not become international superstars, but they were part of the backbone of Australian vaudeville during the First World War, when many performers were absent. As such, their short career played a significant role in ensuring the visibility of juggling during a difficult time for vaudeville in Australia.

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New Postcards- but Alas! No jugglers

 Some interesting postcards from the NSW Postcard Collectors Fair yesterday...

Quong Tart- not associated with Theatre History, but one of Sydney's most amazing citizens during the Victorian era. He was a legend. This is an early 20th Century cigarette card. I was really surprised to see him represented on a cigarette card. 

A postcard of a drawing of the Royal Hotel in Sydney- I think the Theatre Royal was based here and that was Sydney's first theatre.

May De Sousa. An American actress who had a sad demise. She married an Australian and ended up in pauper's grave in the US. The two may have been related? 

Nance O Neil. A very famous actress who visited Australia

 Parer- a magician

A postcard from the local production of East Lynne

I hadn't seen one of these before. It's a postcard from the Orpheum Circuit in North America. This comes from Canada. 1917/18 season. 

I'm working on a new juggling article about the people below. Very interesting story..

Leann

Mozetto or Rupert Ingalese ' No "one" is born a Juggler'

 Most of the story of Mozetto aka Rupert Ingalese aka Frederick Priest has been written by juggling historians Reg Bacon and Thom Wall. Thanks to them both for their help with this- I've just focused on the Australian bits....You can check out Reg Bacon's website  or pick up Thom Wall's edition of Ingalese's book

In 1912 an unusual juggler came to Australian shores. He travelled under the name F Mozetto and was an extroverted young man with very strong views about the art of juggling.

Mozetto, who looked more German than his Italian name suggested, according to a newspaper account, was booked by Tivoli owner Harry Rickards.  Rickards died before Mozetto arrived in Australia, but the contract was honoured by his successor, Mr Hugh McIntosh. The juggler had a very long tour and claimed it as a world record.

Mozetto was described as an American juggler in the Australian Press. In an interview, he claimed that he had been juggling since he was a child, and that he was inspired by the juggler Charlene.  He gave several long interviews. In each one he emphasised the necessity of practice.  He claimed, ‘before I go on stage for a performance, I put in half an hour or an hour just doing a few old tricks to get my nerves and muscles under control.’

Mozetto on the Tivoli Programme

 In Australia, Mozetto was described as the originator of the marvellous coin catching trick. This trick was the talk of the Australian vaudeville world and featured in all the reviews of his act.

In the coin trick, Mozetto took seven coins, threw them in the air and then caught each one individually as they fell. He used pennies. He claimed that he could catch nine, but he would only catch seven on stage.

He also had an assistant in his act, young Eugene Cottin. Cottin’s role was to provide the humour and act as a balancing prop. As part of the act, Mozetto held Cottin in his left hand, juggled two plates with his right hand, and balanced a billiard cue with a lamp on the end on his forehead. His balancing tricks were described as ‘very clever’, whilst his coin catching trick was seen as ‘neat.’

During his tour, Mozetto had one major problem, the Australian climate. The humidity made juggling difficult. ‘Australia is the worst for a juggler to show in. By the time I have done two or three tricks my hands are as slippery as wet eels.’

Despite his complaints, he also complained about the lights, it seems that Mozetto was quite popular in the country. In Sydney he associated with a group called the Chasers, who met every Thursday at the harbour. He created a record for the group by eating nine chops in one sitting.

Mozetto and presumably Eugene Cottin from an Australian newspaper

He also seemed popular with the ladies, and in April 1913 Miss Vera Remee, an actress, confided to an Adelaide newspaper that she was engaged to Mr F Priest of Priest, Dodd and Co, London, better known as the world famous, Mozetto the juggler. Miss Remee later starred in an Australian movie called The Sundowner, but never seems to have become Mrs Priest or Mrs Mozetto.

Mozetto left Australia in 1913 with his assistant Eugene. He continued working internationally until around 1920, when he disappeared. However, he was replaced by another juggler standing 5 foot 7 inches tall, with fair hair and blue eyes, the well-known juggling ‘sage’, ‘philosopher’ and author, Rupert Ingalese. Strangely those measurements were similar to those of Mozetto.

It was Mozetto’s habit of dining on the shores of Sydney Harbour that led to the discovery by modern jugglers that Mozetto and Ingalese were the same person, as the article which mentioned the world record chop eating feat referenced both names

The Chaser's club, a few years before Mozetto joined them

 Mozetto and Ingalese, were the stage names of Frederick Rupert Priest who was born in England around 1885.  Fred Priest began his juggling life as a ‘boy juggler’ in the English music halls, he had changed his name to ‘Mozetto’ by the time Harry Rickards hired him for his first Australian tour.

In 1920 Mozetto disappeared from the billboards to be replaced by Rupert Ingalese. The next year, Ingalese published a book called, Juggling, or How to be a Juggler. The book detailed how as a young man, Ingalese had seen a street juggler dressed in tights. Later he encountered the juggler Charlene and then he had a prophetic dream.  In the dream, a young Ingalese was thrilling a large theatre crowd with his juggling feats. The book advocated lots of practice saying that practising juggling developed ‘admirable qualities of the mind, patience and diligence’. The instructional manual approached juggling as a skill and showed a love of the art shared by all jugglers. According to Ingalese, ‘no man is born a juggler. It is an acquired Art, - requiring similar qualities of mind and character to those necessary to enable a man to excel in any walk of life.’

In 1924, he returned to Australia using the Ingalese name with his wife, Dorothy, and assistants. Several articles in the Australian press referred to his ‘real name’ being F R Priest and mentioned that he had previously toured Australia.

Ingalese arrived in November under contract to JC Williamson. The announcement of his arrival identified him as Mr F R Priest, who in ‘1911-12 performed without a break for 45 weeks which he claimed as a record in Australia in a ‘dumb’ act.’

Rupert Ingalese from an Australian newspaper

The Ingalese turn was completely different from Mozetto’s show. The act was set in a red drawing room. The curtains opened to Agnes Grey, (Mrs Priest) playing Moonlight Sonata on a piano, her hair was red. A footman, in red breeches, entered with a card, and was closely followed by a gentleman in a cloak, lined in red, Rupert Ingalese, who proceeded to juggle various objects in the room. The whole was conducted in silence, with the footman providing the humour and Agnes the piano accompaniment.

Ingalese juggled the candles lining the room, he balanced the servant in one hand whilst juggling with the other, he played the piano with one hand and juggled with the other, there was balancing, coin tossing and humour.  In Perth he performed a trick that he claimed had never been performed before, he spun a hoop on one leg, played a musical instrument on the other, juggled with one hand and balanced a lampshade on his forehead.

The threesome performed all over Australia, sometimes between short films, sometimes on a vaudeville bill. It was a long exhausting tour.

Ingalese, wife Dorothy and partner, left Australia and continued to tour the world. He changed his name twice more, once to Paul Wingrave and then to Rajputana.

The juggler of many identities died in 1958 and was survived by Dorothy, in his will he left her 2000 pounds.

Madame Charlene

 I found this today. It's a picture of Madame Charlene of Charlene and Charlene. She played the xylophone skilfully while he juggled. Apparently her gowns were glorious. They came to Australia three times. This is a damaged photo from Theatre Magazine 1910.

'You've got to have juggling in you' - The Kelso Brothers

 

The Kelsos were two jugglers from Melbourne who found Australia too small for their lofty ambitions.

The Kelso brothers, Joe Wheeler and Harry Denman were not siblings, but considered themselves brothers in vaudeville.  Both were born in Victoria around 1889 and the suburb of Hawthorn later claimed them. As youths they juggled at school, and as adults they settled into jobs in Melbourne, Joe at a bookstall and Harry as a typesetter for The Argus newspaper. But the juggling urge was too strong. They juggled at work, and after work they juggled for charity. Unfortunately, the juggling at work was unacceptable to their employers and they were fired. They decided to turn their obsession into a profession.

They started juggling on the streets of Melbourne around 1909. Then they graduated to Jones Moving Theatre Company, which travelled the regional areas of Australia giving vaudeville performances under a tent.  Amongst the cast at the company was Flossie Jeffries, a champion lady club swinger, and it may be from her that the Kelso brothers or boys (as they sometimes called themselves) learnt how to manipulate clubs.

Jones was not a good employer and he often forgot to pay his employees. There were fights amongst the performers, Flossie got into a physical confrontation with contortionist Lottie, and the rough nights under canvas were neither well paid nor well managed. The Kelso brothers honed their craft and left Jones. Later they sued him for 13 pounds in lost wages and won the case.

By 1910, the Kelsos were working at the National Amphitheatre and appeared as jugglers and hoop spinners. In 1911 they were in New Zealand and juggling clubs, spinning plates, and rolling hoops. A reviewer said that ‘the precision with which they threw plates, clubs and balls from one to another and went through other feats of balancing provides a more than usually excellent turn.’

The two men were close in age but quite different in personality. Joe was later described as the hard headed businessman, whilst Harry was saturnine, talkative, and restless. When they later added comedy to the act, Harry played the clown and Joe the straight man.

In 1912 they were widely acknowledged as Australia’s best club jugglers. In South Australia that year the ‘clever pair of comedy jugglers’ manipulated a billiard cue from foot to chin, threw plates from side to side with the comedian running around desperately trying to prevent them smashing on the floor, and performed Indian club work that was ‘brilliant.’

However, Australia was not big enough for the Kelso brothers. They believed that the small population of the country meant that ‘an act out here is hardly finished before it must be changed’. The two young men decided to travel to America for six months and try their luck.

They claimed that they worked their passage to San Francisco, but it seems they were regular passengers. In October 1912 they arrived on the west coast of the United States, with little money and few connections. They started small, with a charity performance, and then approached a local theatre. They were offered 75 cents a night and began a career that took them to the heights of vaudeville.

Soon they were playing the major cities and combining comedy, juggling, and dancing in a riotous turn. In 1915 they opened the bill at the American Roof, the roof of the American theatre in New York City. Variety Magazine said they did ‘very well’. The comedian was ‘not bad at all’ but the young man who danced took it ‘too seriously’. They rolled hoops, danced, and juggled in this act. According to ‘Clever’ Conkey, they had a novel turn ‘ and while doing a dancing specialty touch up Indian clubs and put them into action without breaking their routine.’

That year Joe married Jane Carroll in New York. Jane was from Chicago and was also a performer. By 1917 the couple had two children Elizabeth and Lorraine.

It was war time and Joe and Harry had to register for war service. By now, both men, although still slender and fit, had streaks of grey in their dark hair. The signs of age may have been due to the hectic pace of constant performance. Harry later said that on ‘bad days’ they had to produce as many as five performances a day and keep up an exhausting schedule.

This schedule did not exhaust Harry’s restless nature. In 1917 he was imprisoned for 10 days because of an altercation with the White Rats. The White Rats were an American labour organisation which imposed ‘strikes’ on various theatres. In this case they entered the Loew Fulton Brooklyn Theatre on a Wednesday night looking to cause trouble, a brawl ensued, and Harry was arrested. The rats campaigned for better wages for white men, women and people of colour were not allowed to join, and they opposed the corporate monopoly of the theatre chains. However, their cause was unpopular with many performers because of their exclusionary policies. The theatre managers usually chose to ignore their shenanigans and Harry apparently found that imprisonment did not impede his ability to perform.

By the end of the war, the increasing popularity of moving pictures was encroaching on the success of traditional vaudeville. Theatre owners began to show revues which mixed dancing, comedy and singing in short skits. Harry and Joe were versatile and talented performers who could change their routines to suit the changing times.

In December 1918, the Kelsos were performing on the Columbia Burlesque circuit in New York in a revue programme with Jean Bendini. They performed in comedy skits, did some juggling, and collaborated with a large cast. Variety said that ‘what they did with plates, Indian Clubs and hoops was the ace of jugglerism.’

Shortly afterwards the pair decided to return to Australia for a tour. However, they were disappointed in their expectations when they were quarantined upon arrival. The Spanish flu was rife amongst passengers and crew on long haul shipping, and many ships were quarantined due to illness and death from the disease. Harry and Joe were caught on one of these ships and their proposed weeks long stay in the home country was reduced to an hour-long meeting with relatives.

They quickly returned to revues in the United States. In 1921 they performed at the Columbia Theatre in a revue called ‘Peek a Boo’ which included Florence Kelso (Jane) and Florence Darley. They had broadened their skills and Joe performed magic tricks whilst Harry balanced on a large rolling ball. Both appeared in comedy skits and continued to display their superior juggling skills.

In 1925 they formed their own company which included a live lion act. They incorporated this into a show called the Crazy Quilt Revue. Unfortunately, at the end of one show, a lion attacked its handler, and his hand was severely mangled before the Kelsos could rescue him. The man died of blood poisoning and the lion was sent to a zoo. They persisted with the act however and employed another lion tamer to control the three remaining beasts.

In 1927, Harry married one of the cast members, Florence Darley, and she, Joe’s wife Jane, the lions, and a supporting cast joined the brothers in 1928 on a long tour of Australia.

The pair returned to their native land as superstars. They were paid a huge wage, and were welcomed home with interviews, and warm reviews. Their families greeted them with hugs and laughs at the pier, and they were honoured with a civic reception in their native town of Hawthorn. The Kelsos had acquired American accents by this time and Joe had silver hair which made him look ‘dignified enough to be a motion picture judge.’ Harry was ‘square chinned’ with ‘eyes like agate’.

The Crazy Quilt Revue was a huge success. It featured Harry and Joe, Flo Carroll (Jane Kelso), Howard Nicholls, a hoop juggler, Florence Darley, (the other Mrs Kelso) Merna Stewart, Maurice Kelly, an Irish/American comedian, and Captain Smithley’s lions. The act comprised four turns which incorporated dancing, juggling, magic, lion taming and comedy. It lasted about an hour and took up the whole second part of the programme.

The Kelsos presented a juggling burlesque as part of the show. Despite Joe’s silver hair, he was ‘agile enough to be one of the smartest jugglers still’. Harry still played the clown and ‘his philosophy of life delivered in unexpected asides nearly convulsed his listeners’.

The two men interfered humorously in Howard Nicholl’s juggling act and upstaged him with their antics. They were particularly nonsensical when Nicholls whirled almost a dozen hoops around his arms, neck, and legs. Florence Carroll also juggled whilst being harassed by the Kelsos whilst Maurice Kelly provided a further comedic element. Mr Smithley and the lions presented just the right degree of danger and excitement to leave the audience satisfied.

Joe Kelso

The revue was fast paced, funny and unlike anything that had been seen in Australia. The two stars were feted everywhere and gave opinions on everything from American culture to prohibition. Every show was greeted with rapturous applause and audience members were seen straining forward in their seats in expectation of the next wonder. Overall, the tour, which lasted 5 months, was an enormous success.

It was their last triumph as a partnership. Harry travelled to London and Joe back to the United States. The era of live performance was fading, the depression was severely restricting the availability of work, and Harry seemed eager to retire.

Harry returned to Australia in the 1930s and bought a hotel in the small town of Warrandyte in Victoria. He died in 1936 after a short illness.

Joe, meanwhile, continued to perform as a solo act. He became an American citizen and settled permanently with his wife and daughters in Illinois. In the 1940s Joe was still juggling and performing magic on stages, at fairs, and in burlesques.  In August 1944 he was killed in a car accident. He had just completed a 30-week contract in burlesque and had bookings for the rest of the year.

Although Harry and Joe diversified their act over the years, they were jugglers at heart. Harry said that as a young typesetter, ‘when I wasn’t doing it (juggling) with my own knucklebones, I was doing it with the type.’

While Joe put it more simply.

‘You’ve got to have juggling in you, the first time I went to a circus and saw juggling I said to myself ‘I think I’d like to try that’ I tried in the backyard and found it came quite easily to me.’

 Harry and Joe Kelso were two of the best jugglers ever produced in the backyard of Australia.

Togo - 'The only 6 cue manipulator in the world'

 Japanese jugglers were very popular in Australia during the late 19^th Century, so it was not surprising  that Tivoli owner, Hugh McIntosh, decided to import a Japanese juggling act, the Togos during the First World War. The two jugglers,28-year-old Unotaro Ishikawa, (born 1888/89 in Yokohama) and 27-year-old Kameichi Yasuda, remained in Australia for several years. Eventually Unotaro married an Australian woman and became known as ‘Togo’ the juggler.

The pair arrived in Australia in 1916. However, they first had to navigate the White Australia Policy and gain an exemption from the notorious dictation test. This test was designed to prevent non whites from entering the country by subjecting them to a dictation test in any language. For example, a person who could speak and write fluent English may have been subjected to a dictation test in Gaelic, thus preventing their entry.  Fortunately, as performers, the Togos gained an exemption from the test because the Tivoli Theatre deposited a substantial bond which guaranteed their eventual departure.   

The pair gave their first show in Australia at the Melbourne Tivoli in November. The act amazed and astounded audiences. It was lavishly presented, with the jugglers dressed in Japanese costumes and backed by a purple and gold setting.  During the performance Unotaro juggled sticks, India rubber balls and a glass of water. He was a clever and skilled juggler and everything he did was ‘so neatly done that it looks easy and simple’. The highlight of his act was juggling six sticks. Uno was promoted as being the only person who could achieve this feat. The sticks were broom handles of around 18 inches (45 cm)  long, and he twirled them in the air deftly, and ‘with a cleverness and speed that stimulated every pulse’. Unotaro also ‘spun a Japanese top to the ceiling which released a mechanical device which erupted in Japanese and British flags in a setting of electric globes’, a unique, beautiful, and patriotic display during war time.

The highlight of the show was the ‘slide for life’, a wire walking act by Kameichi. A wire was strung between the stage and the roof of the theatre. Kameichi walked the wire to the top, then aided by a parasol, he slid down the wire back to the stage over the heads of the audience. It was a remarkable and dangerous feat, made more dangerous when he repeated it blindfolded, with a bag over his head. One reporter called it ‘one of the most thrilling acts in vaudeville’.

The act was an enormous success across the Tivoli circuit and the two men toured the east coast of Australia to much acclaim. After their contract with the Tivoli expired, they signed with the Fuller circuit, and continued to play in New Zealand and Australia.

By 1918 the pair were touring Australia as the Royal Togos and Kameichi was going by the name ‘George Togo’. In Rockhampton ‘attired in gorgeous oriental costumes they juggled with different articles in a most finished manner’ They had introduced top spinning to the act which was also very successful. The highlight continued to be the ‘slide for life’ which astonished and shocked spectators whenever it was performed.

Whilst travelling, Uno met 19-year-old Glory Numm.  In January 1919, the pair married in Sydney. Glory was the daughter of a prominent member of the Sydney Chinese community, Horace Numm, a professional interpreter. Her mother, Mary Sing, had died when Glory was a baby. Glory and Unotaro kept a house in the suburbs of Sydney in the early 1920s and Glory occasionally travelled with the show.

In late 1919, the act travelled to New Zealand as the Togos- Alsace company. In Greymouth, Uno, the smaller brother, was described as keeping ‘the audience spellbound by a series of juggling feats that defied the laws of gravity and carried one into the world of wizardry.’ Uno balanced a round piece of tin, a penny and an egg and kept the lot rolling merrily around the edges of a parasol. He also juggled four burning torches which created an uncanny illumination in the theatre. Naturally the climax of his performance was juggling 6 sticks.

George gave a diabolo exhibition, walked the wire, and slid for life. During the slide for life, the producer, Louis Alsace, asked ladies in the audience if they would like to join George on the wire. There were no volunteers. The show was described as a ‘high class performance’ and was very popular.

Shortly afterwards it seems that George left the show for the United States, because by 1921, Togo, was performing the slide for life at a Broadway theatre. Unotaro, however, with his Australian connections remained in the antipodes and continued as a solo act.

In late 1921 he performed on the Tivoli circuit and was described as ‘short, dark, dapper’ with a ‘Japanese smile’. His manipulation of various discs on an umbrella was seen as ‘almost incredible’ and the applause was long and loud.

Unotaro spoke and wrote English well and in 1922 was using personal letterhead which proclaimed ‘‘Togo’- The Equilibrist par excellence and the only 6 cue manipulator in the world.’

During the early 1920s, he travelled regularly between Australia and New Zealand. He headlined shows in provincial towns and big cities and introduced novelty into his act in the form of unique top spinning and juggling. He and Glory had two children during this time.

He was well liked by the Australian theatrical community. In 1923, an Australian newspaper related a humorous anecdote about him. Apparently on one of his journeys he was given a French grammar. His friends were astounded when he claimed, mere days later that he had mastered the language, saying ‘-Oh I know how to say ‘how much’ and ‘too much’ and that’s enough for me’.

Despite this, many of the reviews of his performances have a tone of paternalism, which indicated a racist view of the Japanese. In addition, every time he returned to Australia he had to register with the government and apply, with bond, for an exemption from the dictation test. This was a bureaucratic obstacle which was not imposed on his white peers.

Most reviews emphasised his small stature. It seems he was rather short, a New Zealand newspaper described him as ‘diminutive in stature, but a giant in ability’ when he worked for Fullers in 1924.

That year he applied for copyright on a top spinning/juggling act. In the application he described how he spun a top in the air and caught it on the top of a bat then juggled the top and two bats. He also included top spinning on a sword and a fan. He performed these tricks in his show.

In 1925 Uno, Glory and their two children travelled to England. It seems they remained there, at least until 1939. In 1927 Unotaro was reported as performing in variety in the provinces and in 1931, he was said to be with Maskelyne in London.

 In 1937 he was filmed by British Pathe and described as an Australian juggler, although there is no indication he ever became an Australian citizen. The video shows him juggling five sticks and performing two of the top spinning feats he patented in 1924. If the dating is accurate, he was 48 or 49 years old at the time of filming. In 1939 Unotaro Ishikawa, music hall artiste, was living with wife, Glory, in Islington in England.

Unotaro Ishikawa, aka Togo, had a long and prosperous life as a juggler and fortunately  his act has been memorialised on video. He was a unique artist who undoubtedly had to deal with racism throughout his life. However, he managed to outperform and maintain a successful career much longer than many of his contemporaries and was an outstanding representative of the juggling art.