Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-06-17
WAS GREATEST TRICKSTER
Harry Keller Once Held That DIS.
tinCtl0n.
ALWAYS POPULAR With The PUBLIC

Says .spirituaIism and the;::Aike are
Only Tricks That Can. Easily Be
:. Understood By Those, Who Have the
Capacity. to. /, undarstand-seientis
~ Are Easily: !: Deceived. Because: of
:..!Iheica aSeriousness.r, :. :,sn ,.::r
Dearborn independent. .;li..s,;-1
Although it was an. American show
man lin, the. last century who enuncia-
ted fthe-celebrated dictum- The. public
likes to be humbugged," that principle
has been known and acted upon since
the, dawn. Of history Under such va
rious names as magic, black art, ne
cromacy, illusion, medicine-making,
fakingi sleight- of hand, wizardry and
spiritualism, the art Of the trickster
has been practiced in every age and in
every cline. The ancient priests used
it as an aid to religion, primitive peo
ple' of all lands have had their super
stitious instincts quickened by their
medicine men and even in these mod
ern times we find clever fakirs taking
advantage Of our awe Of the unknown
world through what Is known as spir:-
itualism.. a:. .
): Truly an, ancient art compounded
ne-:half: Of NATURAL. quickness Of wit,
manual dexterity, and inventive itlgst
nuity.' and the other half pure nerve
and assurance? The, magician" pits his
wits against the public and wins in-
rariably for rsseveral. reasons. His au-
dience lis prepared to be fooled and he
Is prepared Ito fool them: He is in the
advantageous position .,of a salesman
whose: customers want his goods. He
knows perfectly every move that he is
going to-. make while his audience Is
placed at the disadvantage Of the un-
expected In addition to the native
quickness of wit which he must pos
sess to be a. success in his profession,
he Is constantly rnakingit it sharper and
keener by daily brushes with the pub
lie, Like trained athlete he attacks
end defend by instinct and he has the
same advantage that a trained athlete
has: over man of equal strength who
Is. not in condition. "A fourth advant-
age rs; In. the fact that he seldom has
to i6otethessame audience many times
Id +sfpksssidn. t.The.; most clever ma
sRlkHsdild hot tihope to'face the same
Aadt Hue, dayraftar day with the same
triqks, fa1d not .be. detected by some
- Keller Newin thu Seventies. -.
The art Of magic or illusion Is one
that .is constantly growing In possibili..
les. Compare the parapkernalia that
:he old-time performers had to work
With and that of the modern Illusion
ist. It .is like comparing the stage of
shakespeare's time. with. the spectac::
ular, productions of today. With all
the devices of electricity and other in
ventlons> Of, modern science at hand II
is small wpbdeE that the illusionist can
battle his audience. But in. the old
days it took something more than in
genious appliances. :
There Is a.: man who has bridsed the
gap between the days; when"a magic
ian was but sort of sublimate jug
gler,' depending entirely upon his
sleight- Of hand and his quick wit and
the illus!onist Of today with his elab-
crate apparatus and mechanical para
phernalia. :.......
Harry Keller or Kellar as he was
known on the stage, Is now In his sew
enties.. Ten years ago he retired from
the stage and purchased the beautiful
home in Los Angeles where he now re-
sides. He had we'll earned his retire
ment after forty-seven years of active
service as magician and illusionist
during which time he had appeared ir
every country on the globe. But the
old master three years ago proved thai
he had lost none, Of the clcrernest
which entitled him to be called "kellal
the Great" when he appeared at ben
eft performance for the Antilles suf'
ferers at the Hippodrome in New
York. The ovation he received on tha
occasion is still the talk of theatrica
circles. -. 49, = :,
Although retired, Mr.. Keller is IA
from being a reoluse. He still retains
that quickness of intellect and vigor
Gus energy that kept him for years IL
the forefront of entertainers. Los An
gcles is second only to New York as
theatrical center and few are the star
of stage and screen who fail to renew
their. acquaintance with this weli-be
loved comrade. =.
Best IlIusionists Are Americans.
Not only has Mr.. Keller known CIV
cry prominent member Of the theatri
cal world but. his acquaintanceshi
embraces statesmen. diplomats, finan
ciers, sportsmcn, authors, editors mu
sicians and ministers. It is difficult I
mention a great man of the past slNt
years whom Keller has not met. Eh
walls of his home are lined with auto
graphed photographs of celeeritie
ranging from: Theodore RooseVei
Queen Victoria Mark Twain; Lillia
L, Russell to Billy Sunday and Raymon
Hitchcock. His library is filed wit
scrapbooks containing clippings, frol