Maskelyne and Cooke’s entertainments at the Egyptian Hall on Piccadilly were a feature of the London scene for over thirty years. During that time a great deal was written about them in newspapers and magazines. The publicity invariably focused on J.N. Maskelyne, who was sole proprietor of Maskelyne and Cooke’s. Virtually nothing was written about his stage partner, George Cooke. This was an injustice because Maskelyne’s success would have been impossible without Cooke’s talent, loyalty and hard work. Peter Brunning’s article brings George Cooke into the spotlight by telling the story of his life.
Over the years Maskelyne went to great lengths to protect his magic secrets. Cooke also went out of his way to protect secrets but, in his case, they were family secrets. Peter has unravelled Cooke’s unconventional private life as well as identifying his important contribution to the popularity of the Maskelyne and Cooke entertainments.
It is 120 years since Cooke’s final appearances at the Egyptian Hall, but at last his story is being told.
Click on Details if you would like to download a PDF of this e-news.
E-newsletters like this one are sent out four times a year, highlighting recent additions to the website. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact the curator.
The November 2019 issue included:
– Peter Waring.
– A Chung Ling Soo poster.
– Ephemera other than posters and programmes.
– What entertainments are on in London in 1886.
Peter Brunning’s painstaking research has uncovered the most complete story yet about Devant and his family. This includes new insights into Devant’s marriage and his daughter Vida, topics which have puzzled many magic historians. Peter’s article is illustrated with seldom seen images from the Davenport Collection.
Peter Brunning tells the story of this now seldom remembered magician. Peter Waring, born in 1916, only became a magician after the second world war. His sophisticated modern style was a great success and he soon found himself working at some of the best variety theatres. At the height of his career, his comedy and timing won him his own comedy programme on BBC radio. His meteoric rise was followed by a swift downfall as his past caught up with him, resulting in his suicide in 1949.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
