November 11: The Magical Master

In 1907, David Devant premiered The Magical Master at St. George’s Hall, a play that included his innovative solution to the famous Indian Rope Trick. A rope rose into the air and an assistant climbed to the top. Suddenly, the man seemed to fall away from the rope and disappear in midair. Devant solved the problem with a shutter of Black Art (he actually used dark maroon, not black, fabric) that quickly opened behind a mechanical rope. He later altered the apparatus into something called Teddy Bear Jazz: the disappearance of a man in a teddy bear costume as he climbed a pole.