The Kiraku Brothers in Australia 1935

 

The Kiraku brothers, Risley performers who juggled with their feet, arrived in Australia in March 1935. The pair, Kamejiro Yoshida, aged 38, and Hirokichi Fuji, 35, were imported from London where they were performing regularly in theatres and music halls.

Hiro was from Gefu and had been apprenticed to an acrobatic troupe, The Hamamura troupe, by his uncle when he was ten. Kamejiro, from Kyoto, the older performer, was also a graduate of the same school. Both were sons of farmers and they had travelled the world as acrobats since they were children.

Tivoli owner Frank Neil paid a bond of 200 pounds to insure them before they appeared on Australian stages. He also committed to providing food, clothing and medical care and swore that their appearance would incur no cost to the Commonwealth.

Signed photo in my collection

Their first performances were in Western Australia, and they were sensational.

They took the stage costumed in tennis gear. Kamejiro- the older and stockier, in blue coat and trousers  and Hiro in a quirky hat with yellow buttonhole. Hiro provided the laughs, whilst Kamejiro was the base. The act began with Hiro performing some handsprings, then Kamejiro lay on his back on a couch and began to twirl his partner with his feet. The hardest trick was the foot to foot, where Hiro performed a full somersault landing with his feet on Kamejiro’s feet.

 Kamejiro then moved to the floor where he caught Hiro on his hands and ‘while supporting him in an upright position, rolled across the stage.’ The reviewer of the show was astounded by this feat of strength.

The Kirakus were immensely popular in Western Australia, but their stay was short. They were due to tour the east coast in a revue, Birds of the Night. However, before they left the west, Hiro authored an article for the local paper. In it, Hiro said that he preferred to be identified as a gymnast rather than an acrobat, as acrobats wore tights whilst he and Kamejiro wore flannels. He also detailed long and painful training sessions, broken bones, cut lips, concussions and endless hours of practice. He described his partner, who he called Kame, as like his brother and both as ‘happy go lucky.’ The full article is here.

From the newspapers- probably in costume

 In the last week of their stay in Perth, Hiro sprained a tendon in his foot, but he performed the next night with a smile. He had been on stage since childhood and was well acquainted with the painful repercussions of the Risley life.

The pair arrived in Melbourne in April. They were immediately employed in the revue ‘Birds of the Night,’ which starred Mrs Frank Neil. They were described as ‘probably the finest acrobatic turn ever presented at this theatre,’ and were undoubtedly the stars of the show.

They performed in Sydney in July and were warmly greeted. They stayed for the whole month and left the country in August.

Although their visit was brief, the Kirakus were widely regarded as one of the best Risley acts to perform in Australia. Their reception was particularly warm in Western Australia where they were photographed and interviewed. Their association with the Tivoli Theatre ensured their success with Australian audiences.

They returned to England and performed in pantomime and variety until 1940. Hiro was interned during the war while it appears that Kamejiro returned to Japan. Hiro died in England in 1968.

I used this excellent website about Japanese performers as a contributing source for this article.

 

Alfio Silvestri

 I recently acquired these pictures of Alfio Silvestri- there's not a lot of information about Alfio available, so I've posted what I know here hoping that somebody might know more. He was, by all accounts I've read, a very skilled juggler. 

In the graveyard of variety artists in England lies Alfio Silvestri, once hailed as ‘the greatest juggler on earth.’

He was born in 1909 and in his early years lived in Milan. When he appeared on the  British variety circuit  he was introduced as a famous continental juggler, and it’s probable that he honed his craft in the theatres of France and Italy.

In 1932 he debuted in the English variety theatres, he was 22, a slim young man with a polished act. He claimed to be the only person in the world who could juggle 10 balls while standing on one foot.

His speciality was ball juggling, he juggled footballs and billiard balls and his finale was catching balls thrown to him by the audience on a stick in his mouth. This audience interaction was much praised by critics.

Between 1932- 1955, he appeared in all the major music halls in England, Scotland and Ireland with this act.

Alfio Silvestri died in 1992 and was buried in Twickenham cemetery England by the Variety Artistes Benevolent fund.

 

 

Ossie Delroy and Jack Delroy- The Delroys.

 With Thanks to Kate Besley and Mark St Leon for their help- Particularly Kate who patiently answered my emails.

In late 1912, a young juggling duo, The Delroys, began appearing in advertisements, in theatre trade magazines and newspapers. They were hoop rollers extraordinaire, comedy artists, brothers in juggling.

They were Jack and Ossie, the Delroys, and both were in their early 20s.  In November 1912 they played the National Amphitheatre and in early 1913 they played with Mysto, the magician. They passed hoops and made comedic remarks, they juggled tennis racquets, Ossie rode a unicycle and juggled, and they offered five pounds to anybody in the audience who could do the same.

After reaching the heights of the Brennan circuit at the National Amphitheatre, their career was sidelined to the fringes of the Australian vaudeville scene. The variety theatres were experimenting with moving pictures, so there was less work, and the pay was declining. The Delroys travelled to New Zealand for a short tour in 1913, and then they sailed to Asia where they joined Harmston’s Circus. In August, Jack wrote to Variety Magazine in Sydney, raving about their good reviews and great houses in China.

The Delroys spent about 3 years with Harmstons and toured through Asia. In 1916 the partners split and Jack left the circus.

 

JACK

 When Jack left, he was not alone. He had started a relationship with the circus owner’s daughter, Nellie Harmston. The couple, with a friend, John Gordon Kerr, and with Nellie’s daughter Jeanette, embarked on a ship in Shanghai for the United States in 1916.

Jack Delroy’s real name was Pierce Alexander McDonald and he was born in Parkes New South Wales in 1893.  He was a slender, handsome man with light brown hair and grey eyes. John Gordon Kerr who accompanied Jack and Nellie to the US, was supposed to be Jack’s new juggling partner. However, in October 1916 Jack was advertising for a new partner who could pass clubs and hoops because Kerr was ill and in 1917 he died in Illonois. 

Jack and Nellie worked with a circus in Pittsburgh in 1917 and Jack also managed a Chinese touring group. In 1920 they decided to return to Australia. On the way they toured the Chinese troupe in Shanghai.

Nellie Harmston McDonald, known by her stage name Nellie Harmston, had developed an act with performing birds. She had over 20 birds, including cockatoos, who performed various tricks including acrobatics, mini trapeze, musical items and tumbling. One cockatoo, The Colonel, was described as almost human. They were enormously popular particularly with children. When the couple arrived in Australia, Nellie and her bird act was almost immediately booked as a headliner for the Tivoli Circuit.

Jack was not in demand as a juggler, it was Nellie who was booked continuously throughout the early 1920s. Jack was referred to as Nellie’s ‘hubby’ who ‘assisted with the birds.’

Denied the opportunity to juggle regularly, Jack branched into business. In 1922 he became part owner of a confectionery store in Sydney called Hills which was later renamed Macs. The store had the exclusive licence to provide sweets to all the theatres in Sydney and was located next to the Theatre Royal. He also obtained the copyright for the ‘sawing a woman in half illusion’ and warned in large advertisements, that magicians in Sydney would have to ask permission before performing the trick in public.

Everyones Magazine 1920s

Nellie’s cockatoos were world famous and Nellie was a talented juggler, performer and animal trainer. Her act often included cats, rats and birds. It was constantly booked in theatres in Australia.  Around 1923 Nellie left the country with the bird act and the family remained overseas for three years. When they returned the birds starred as headliners and once again toured the Tivoli Circuit.

In 1927, Jack imported a Chinese acrobatic troupe The Kwong Sing Wah troupe, who played the Tivoli. Later that year Jack created McDonald’s Wonder Show which included the troupe. There was also a juggler, Manelli, in the Wonder Show.  This was Jack’s alter ego. Young Jeanette also performed and sometimes conducted the cockatoo act.  Mc Donald’s Wonder Show did good business. It was ‘comedy, novelty, melody and thrills, delighting both the ear and the eye.’

In 1928 Nellie suddenly passed away in Sydney, and Jeanette and Jack were left alone, with the birds, to make a living.

They travelled to New Zealand, Jack appearing as Manelli the juggler. The reviews said that Manelli ‘appeared to be able to juggle anything light or heavy and his feats with hoops and hats were remarkably clever.’ Jack appeared with a partner called Mack, who dressed as a tramp and performed humorous feats as Jack juggled. The New Zealand papers said that Jack was the heir to Cinquevalli.

Advertisement for Jack and Jeanette's show in New Zealand newspaper

Jean performed a living marionette act. Her mother had died less than 6 months before, yet she continued working with Jack in New Zealand almost continuously through to mid-1929.

Jack Delroy , juggler, reappeared in Australia in 1930 and in the early years of the decade was juggling in regional shows. In 1934 he married Alice Doell in New Zealand. The couple, with Jean, remained there. In 1934 Jack listed his occupation as merchant.  In 1951 he became a New Zealand citizen.

Meanwhile Jean continued performing with her living marionettes, becoming a feature between the movies. She eventually settled in New Zealand and had a family who still lives there.

Jack returned to Australia in old age and died in 1975 in Sydney.

 

OSSIE

The adventures of Ossie Delroy made him a legend in the Australian theatrical and circus communities.

When Jack left Harmston’s circus with Nellie, Ossie remained. He stayed with the circus for almost two decades and became Harmston’s right hand man. Originally, he performed a unicycle/juggling act, but with time he became a jack of all trades, a manager, an advance man, a trainer, an acrobat and a trouble shooter.

When Ossie became Ossie Delroy the juggler, it seems he left his origins behind. Fragmentary evidence suggests that his real name was Oswald Albert Smith and he was born in Newtown in Sydney in 1890. His mother was Mercy Smith and his father, John Thomas, was a brickmaker.

 

Ossie with Harmston's Circus-

Ossie travelled through Asia with Harmston’s Circus for over 10 years. In 1924 he was described as ‘doing a wire act, trick bicycle, comedy juggling, and musical offering. In addition to this he is elephant trainer, transport man and above all he is Willie Harmston’s first lieutenant’.

Ossie did a quick stop in Australia in 1924 to get married, but he soon travelled to Asia to rejoin his boss. The boss died in 1936, and Ossie, perhaps not happy with the new management, returned to Australia and New Zealand with Sole Brothers circus in 1938.

In New Zealand, he was described as the ‘juggling genius and hoop spinner’ direct from India. A review said ‘His wonderful control in juggling five hoops or balls at the one time was greatly appreciated and his club work and every feature of his display was clean and finished.’

Ossie toured with Sole Brothers across Australia in 1939. War was declared in September that year, and Ossie was too old to fight. He remained with the circus until 1941 when he joined the famous Thorpe McConville show.

Ossie with Jimmy Wallace- Pix Magazine (damaged photo in my collection)

In 1940 he featured in a two page photo spread in Pix Magazine with young Jimmy Wallace. They were shown juggling hoops, clubs and balls and passing. Ossie, lying about his age, was too old to fight, and Jimmy too young. Jimmy had been juggling since he was a boy and it’s possible that Ossie was his juggling teacher and mentor as they lived in neighbouring suburbs.

In August 1941, Ossie enlisted with an Australian Army entertainment unit led by comedian, Jim Gerald. Ossie lied to the army about his age, and entertained the troops on the front line, often unicycling and juggling in dangerous conditions.  He returned to Australia in 1943 and entertained the forces with the Waratah troupe in North and Western Australia, where he and Jimmy were called a ‘perfect juggling team’.  He returned to the front lines in New Guinea with this touring company in 1943.

Ossie on the Unicycle entertaining the troops in the Middle East- Australian War Memorial 

After the war Ossie teamed with Jimmy and they performed at the Brisbane Theatre Royal. He continued working with McConville, and during the 1950s teamed with Jimmy again. He was in his 60s at this time.

In Sydney Ossie loitered in Pitt Street at Poverty Point with all the local performers. They elected a mayor and gossiped about work and lack of it. Ossie was a well known and respected character in the community and continued working well into the 1950s.

Ossie scaring a child - 1951 newspaper

Ossie seems to have stopped the travelling showman life in the 1960s. He passed away in 1978 in his home in Sydney. He is spoken of as a legend in the circus world, and his adventures took him a long way from his humble beginnings as a brick makers son in Newtown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimmy Wallace- The Boy Juggler

 

Jimmy Wallace was born to show business. His father, Jim but known as Professor Wallace, was a children’s entertainer and puppeteer. Unlike many performers, Jim and wife Lil, had a home in Marrickville in Sydney where they raised their three children, George, James and Florence.

The family name was Bell. Jimmy, the middle child was born in 1922 and given the name James Wallace Bell, after his father’s stage name. He had one unusual feature, one grey and one brown eye.

The Bell home in inner city Marrickville in Sydney was not like the other suburban homes. In the early 2000s Florence recalled the family’s trips to the Tivoli Theatre, her father’s late nights and his collection of magic memorabilia. Jimmy senior was a children’s entertainer, a magician, and a well-known character in the small Sydney pre-war theatrical community.

As a young man, Jimmy junior, was sent to somebody, probably Ossie Delroy, to learn to juggle. Ossie lived nearby and was also well known to the local theatrical scene. Young Jimmy liked juggling. He would juggle household items such as apples or cutlery in the family kitchen much to his mother’s dismay.

Jimmy in Pix Magazine 1938

 He began juggling for the public around the age of 12 when he started doing charity shows with his father. He juggled at department stores, including the famous Anthony Hordens, and for a local children’s charity. It seems clear that Jimmy was going to follow in his father’s footsteps, he was sent to the theatrical dentist, and he was given elocution lessons to fix a slight speech impediment. Then when he was 15, he appeared in a two-page photo spread for a local magazine.

 In Pix magazine in 1938, he was described as a young juggler who astonished people when on holidays by juggling knives and forks at the breakfast table. His father was quoted saying that Jimmy was the only boy in the world who could manage 4 balls in the air at the same time and he was pictured juggling axes.

The next year he began juggling professionally and was at the Regent theatre in Adelaide between movie showings. He wore a white satin shirt and navy-blue trousers and juggled balls racquets and hats. The highlight of his turn was juggling three axes, blindfolded.

War was declared in September 1939 and men from Australia enlisted. Jimmy was too young, enlistment age was 21, so he continued with his stage career.

In 1940 he was scaring young women with blind folded axe juggling. He also appeared in another two-page pictorial in Pix Magazine. This time local man Ossie Delroy accompanied him. It is probable that the shoot occurred in the Bell family back yard in Marrickville. The pair juggled hoops, clubs and balls

Jimmy with Ossie Delroy,  Pix Magazine 1940

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From 1941-1942 Jimmy toured the country with various revues on the Tivoli Circuit. He appeared in primarily in Melbourne and Sydney, including an appearance in the revue ‘Applesauce’ with Will Mahoney and Evie Hayes. Also, during this period, he performed on radio, earning the nickname, ‘the radio juggler.’

In 1943 Jimmy enlisted. His friend Ossie had already toured the Middle East with an army entertainment troupe. Jimmy had just turned twenty-one and was now eligible for service. He had been touring the north of Australia with the Waratah entertainment troupe which performed in army camps in Australia, and in 1943 the troupe travelled to New Guinea to entertain there. Jimmy remained on the front lines until he was discharged in 1946.

Jimmy in New Guinea

He continued his juggling career when he returned. In 1947 he played at the Tivoli and performed in Sydney Melbourne and Perth. That year, at the Wingham Diggers Dance (Diggers is Australian for soldiers) he entertained a crowd with ‘the usual’ juggling props and caused much laughter with his humorous quips. The audience applauded him loudly and refused to let him leave the stage. Jimmy was travelling through on his way to Brisbane for a stint at the Cremorne Gardens.

Jimmy spent much of the late 1940s in Brisbane where he became the co-director of the Brisbane Royal with George Wallace jnr (not related), and Laurie Smith. In 1949 he married Joan Ashton, a singer in the show,  in Brisbane. It was a typical day for Jimmy with his wedding squeezed in between business. His routine that day was described as. 3pm- married, 5pm- attended business for the Brisbane Royal, 8.30pm- on stage with juggling act.

Jimmy marries Joan- Newspaper photo

In 1949 Ossie Delroy teamed with Jimmy for a duo juggling act which was well received. However, it seems that the management of the Brisbane Royal was not very profitable. By 1951, Wallace jnr, Jimmy and Joan were on the road in the north of Queensland, and in 1952 Jimmy was back in Sydney producing the ‘Wentworth Cabaret’ in Katoomba. One reason for returning to Sydney was the death of his father that year.

Jimmy’s career was slowing down by then, but he was getting involved in television. Television reached Australian homes in 1956 and it seems Jimmy was one of the early stars of the medium. In 1962 he juggled at a shopping mall in Parramatta (suburban Sydney) and was advertised as a TV star.

Jimmy died in Sydney in 1987 after a lengthy career in vaudeville, radio and TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jugglers during World War 2 ( ANZAC Day Edition)

 Australian jugglers played a large role in the entertainment and fighting units in the Middle East and New Guinea during World War 2.

Jim Collins- Major Jim Collins, a juggler known as Collino, or J J Collins, organised performances in New Guinea. He also designed a portable stage for the shows.

The Testro brothers, part of the famous Testro juggling family, performed for the troops, and there is an urban legend that either in World War 1 or WW2, one of them juggled live grenades. 

 Jimmy Wallace in New Guinea- State Library of Victoria.

Jimmy Wallace, barely of conscription age, juggled in the entertainment unit in New Guinea for several years. Jimmy was a Sydney boy whose family lived in Petersham in inner city Sydney.

Ossie Delroy, a circus legend, lied about his age to join up. Ossie told the government he was born in 1900 when he was actually born in 1890, so he was 50 when he toured the Middle East with the Australian entertainment troop in 1941. Ossie came home and then returned to entertaining the troops in New Guinea several years later. Born in Newtown in inner Sydney, he lived in Marrickville and trained Jimmy Wallace in juggling.  

Ossie Delroy in Tel Aviv, 1941. From the Australian War Memorial. 

Let's hope no more jugglers need to visit war zones or fight in wars.

Lest we forget....

Fifteen Year Old Jimmy Wallace- Juggler from Marrickville (Sydney) 1938.

 From Pix Magazine- May 1938

George Campbell's letter to Everyones Magazine about Vaudeville conditions in the United States 1922

 Vaudeville conditions bad in America

George Campbell- Juggler writes to Everyones Magazine about his experiences in the United States. An amazing recount of the conditions for a juggler in the early 1920s. 

Published 14 June 1922

Eleven months ago, George Campbell, an English juggler, who had been in this country for over ten years, left for another trip to America, accompanied by Bert Western, a young equilibrist. (his wife Ella went too, she is in the shipping records.) Two weeks ago, Mr Campbell returned here, thoroughly fed up with present variety conditions in the United States, and also firmly convinced that, after all, there was no place nearly as good as Australia, the land of his adoption.Mr Campbell summarises his experience thusly-

We landed in ‘Frisco and started work right away for Levy, playing in and around the capital. It took us five weeks to work three, but conditions were congenial even though the salary was not much to enthuse over. This section of the tour gives one the impression that he is going to have a very enjoyable route, but here is where he gets it in the neck, for you are routed over the south, the portion of the circuit known as the ‘death trail’, and consisting of sixteen towns many of them with very long jumps. Although sixteen are scheduled , you are lucky if you play more than nine. The houses are pictures and vaudeville, four are on each bill comprising the latter.

No signed contract is given you for this tour, and it often happens that when you reach a particular town the house manager does not need your act and you have to go to the next circuit theatre. This is a plain statement of fact and is one of the greatest injustices done to an artist. When you play the last house at Amarillo (Texas) you have a fifty dollar trip to reach Chicago- if you hold the cash.

Getting to Chicago, you are soon forced to realise that you are up against a dead end- that is you are one of the great rank and file of artists. You see, there are many thousand acts, not working, and these unfortunates will tell you that the agents do not need novelty (specialty) acts.

When you are lucky enough to do a try-out, you will know what a scream this means. At certain nights of the week, in small houses, the whole programme is given by try-outs, at a cost of nothing to the management. They will tell you that the house will be well filled with booking agents and, after the show, you get to know that there has not been one on the premises.

 

Later on, I worked with Rosie Stifle? and her husband at the Empire Theatre Chicago, a Western Vaudeville house. We played three days at a cut salary in order to get in. The act went over very big at all performances and the manager reported to headquarters that it was the finest show of its kind that had ever played this house. This meant nothing, for the W V A had lost most of its houses. The rest of the circuit was not worth working owing to the very long jumps and you have to pay your own fare. At all places, too, you are supposed to pay 10 per cent to the agent, but it is always 15, and generally more. If you don’t cough up to these parasites, you don’t work. Therefore we found it impossible to get going in Chicago.

On to New York, we again realised our hopelessness, being an unknown quantity. If you haven’t a few hundred dollars to see you over the first few months, you will starve. It is well known that you get nothing unless you tip the agent, or else bet him 200 dollars he can’t book you.

Speaking of agents, their method of procedure is well known . As they are finishing talking to you, they pull out a drawer in their desk. This drawer is left open sufficiently long enough for you to take the hint that you are to drop your donations in. If you overlook this , it is a case of goodnight.

All the Australians are battling, except Mysto, who is making good money at the various clubs and private entertainments. The Kelso boys have split up and both are working, one with a partner. 

….. ( various bits about Australians he met on the circuit)

Now that is my opinion of America, as a country for vaudeville . It is absolutely rotten at the present time and I defy any of the smaller fry (and many of the big acts) to prove it otherwise.

Personally I found most of the people very fine, but the weather dull, and one missed the sunshine. America is the place for big money, if you have the luck to get in ..if not….

I was in the United States some years ago, when it was really God’s own country as they called it. Personally I doubt the Deity would care to live there now, as America is a nation of cranks and high brows, in the main, with the more citizen of other days gradually losing their rights.

George concludes with some remarks about the availability of alcohol in the US.