Variety (September 1918)

VARIETY •■•• v- THE MASTER MYSTIC ASSISTED BY PRINCESS OLGA and COSTA Only Hindu Mind Readers in America. The FIRST and ONLY act to work BOXES and BALCONY the same as the orchestra floor, covering the entire house. TWO MEN WORKING IN THE AUDIENCE LEAD OTHERS TRY TO IMITATE !:- CHICAGO "EVENING POST" (Sept. 13) The Fine Arts of Mind-Reading By Charles Collins Among the performers who interest me most in my 'dull afternoons among the mmlo halls era the eo-called mind-readers. Trained seals, talking dogs and imXe-clurmcre are untpeakatilr banal: the dancing girls no longer stir bit polae; the singing women fall to more my Buddhlrtlo calm; and the moat uproarious madness of the funny men cannot start the faintest fissure of•''• smile on my glacial countenance. 80 far as these Tauderllle amuse- ments are concerned, I hare passed Into Nirvana- But when I behold a mind-reader my. eyes brighten and my Black frame, which hss been trying to seat Itself comfortably upon its shoulder blades, snaps Into an attitude of attention with the precision of a new second lieutenant who sees a • brigadier general approaching- For they are the makers of wonder, these ; fakirs. . - • To illustrate.: There is a psychic outfit headed by a lean and gaudy - Hindu named Joveddah at the Palace Muslo Hall* this week. Joreddah 1 lutes a certain Princess Olga, a Caucasian, with his basilisk gaze, and by ■ occult gestures pretends to hypnotise her. Her eyes are bandaged to make the trick more difficult. Then the supple Joreddah, fingering bis silky ! beard, pauses out into the audience on the main floor, and a certain Costa ! Valsnta, a secondary oriental, mounts to the balcony. Questions are whls- ■, pered into their ears or objects are shown them. With the chattering raptd- i ity of monkeys they fire questions at Olga, who answers them with infinite 'gUbnoss and apparently infallible accuracy, talking with the precise labial i monotone that was affected by the baby vampires of the jazzy year before ' we wen*, into the war. The serial numbers of checks, identification cards. '. addresses on letters, snd all sorts of miscellaneous Information are matters ; of supreme Indifference to the entranced Olga. She simply rattles them elf. ' taking the fire of Questions from two angles without the flicker of a nerve. It Is a psychological marvel—a miracle of attention and memory In the i rapid communication of a code of word-end-sound signals. Joreddah and : bis subaltern give Olga the answer to the Question as they uk It The code ' Is so subtle, however, that It transcends any Invention of any German spy who hss yet been discovered. If Joveddsh's Questions are studied closely. 1 00 amateur can find In them anything that hints at a prearranged code. , There are no curious word-twlstlngs, no deviations from the vemscular of common piano conversation. But the code Is there, nevertheless: It is baaed .1 not only on words, but also on Inflections snd time Intervals. It twists ; through the glib Questions like a snake through the grass. To learn it ■ must demand the nearly Infinite pains that are the proverbial explana- - tlon of genius. The languid Olga also pretends to read tho future and answers a few of tbo commonplace questions usually heard when people try to unmask their destiny in public—questions about going a Journey, about sweethearts who are fickle and wlveti who aro nursing Intentions to elope, about lost Jewels, missing dogs and the end of tho war. All this, of course, is merely belt for the gullible. I would decline to staka my future on what Olga says In ber theoretical trance. She Is sn Intriguing young person with richly car- mined lips, but I deny her the gift of prophecy. I am devoting this much valuable print paper to Joveddah, Olga, et si. because theirs Is the snspplest mlnd-rcadlng I have ovor witnessed. They work faster than the Bhattucks, who are one of my standard vaudeville admirations. Such people are far out of tho ordinary, and oven with the oodo explanation of their mysteries they have a smack of the uncanny. 1 One of them, a woman who haa the typical trance-medium look (I have forgotten her name), tries to commit sulddo at least three tunes a year, not for advertising purposes; and tho last time I heard of her she had almost succeeded. The man named Mercedes, who aBks you to name any tune you choose and then telepathlr.es It to a girl at a piano on the stage. ■ Is said to bare recently como to a psychological barricade—he and his part- ner cannot make the code work any longer. '•BILLBOARD" Palace Theatre, Chicago (Reviewed Monday Matinee, Sept. 9) No. 3—Joveddah, billed as The Master Mystic, in telepathic and occult science, assisted by Princess Olga and Costa Valata; and they certainly deserve the billing. They are rapid workers and make this one of the most mystifying acts that we have ever seen in this line. It will take a lot of people back to see the show again. There are over three hundred questions asked and answered. There might be a few less ques- tions and a few more laughs introduced in this act. Seventeen minutes, full stage; two encores, closing with a song by the Hindoo. "VARIETY," SEPT. 13 Joveddah, Costa .tfalata and the Princess Olga came out. The Princes^pgo. had her eyes bound. She spoke as her Hindu friends went through the audience: "A watch." "A dollar watch." "You are going to Memphis.", "In about £j|ye weeks." "Yes, your boy will come back from France." "Who will win the war —the Allies." (Applause.) "Who will win the world's series?" "The Cubs." At this point the audience lost interest in Olga, for the Sox had beaten the Cubs three times in a row, and they, had no more chance of cop- ping the series than Bob Hall has of being appointed poet lariat of the N. V. A. • ■ V LOS ANGELES "TIMES" (Jniy 2) Rajah's Orpheum Act Truly is Wonderful, Pleasing Vaudeville If there is anything you want to know go to the Orpheum this week and find out. For there you will find Joveddah the Rajah, master mystic, and the Princess Olga. To say that the Rajah has an interesting act is put- ting it mildly. Together with Costa Valata, the Rajah passes through the audience taking queries from anyone who desires knowledge. The Rajah works downstairs and Valeta passes through the upper regions. All this time they are firing questions at the princess, who sits blindfolded upon the stage. More rapidly than the questions are asked her, does the girl answer and the effect truly is marvelous. No matter how small the object which the interrogator may hold in his or her hand the girl immediately describes it. She answers any sort of a question and in a manner which brings astonishing exclamations and squeaks from many of the women present. On Friday, the Rajah and Princess are to give a special performance behind the stage for the benefit of ladies only. Sallie Fisher in "The Choir Rehearsal," and her capable company are one of the hits of the bfD. In "Let's Pretend," Marie Nordstrom, petite and sweet-voiced, scores a big success. Her song about her hook and eye falling in love is of the variety that is clever because of its very foolishness. "The Frontier of Freedom," produced by Sergt. Maj, Jack Anderson of the famous Princess Pat regi- ment and Capt. L. E. Ransom of the United States Army, gives the audience a closeup of a real trench and life therein during a bombardment . Carter DeHaven and Flora Parker are pleasing in new songs and Edwin Weber at the piano is an artist in his line. The trio answered many encores. The Misses Black and White in their acrobatic novelty diversion do some stunts which if practiced daily by the fair sex, would surely lead to perfection or near perfection of form. Frances Dougherty appears in a melodic diversion. The show opens with Stewart and Mercer in a comedy aerial attraction. NOTE: So many "ham" acts steal the name of RAJAH that you must always look for the name JOVEDDAH to be sure you are getting the Genuine and Original. ALWAYS WORKING IS THE ANSWER PALACE, Chicago, Last Week. MAJESTIC, Milwaukee, This Week. ORPHEUM, St. Louis, Next Week. Direction, MAX GORDON Closing Successful Season on Orpheum Circuit