The Modern Mystic League
AUGUST 2022
Blackburn & District Society of Magicians
On one of the hottest and sunniest days of the year, members turned out in force to greet our old friend Leslie Melville from Blackpool, with his Tales of a Travelling Trickster. It was a delightful afternoon, wandering down the vales of memory with some surprising detours.
To put us in the magic mood, Leslie began with some perfect rhyming patter to a safety-pin routine and his Dingle Dangle Wands, reminding us that he is a story-teller at heart. In fact, the overarching theme for the day was that magic is of limited value, indeed meaningless, without context.
Leslie recalled being taken to Barnsley as a boy of eight (not as a punishment, he insisted) to visit his uncle Ernest, who introduced him to the world of magic and a Mr Cooper who taught him thimble palming.
Leslie’s first magic convention was the Abracadabra Jamboree of 1947, where he encountered Eric ‘Nitwit’ Williams, and he learned a great deal from observing the colourful performers along the Golden Mile in Blackpool – such as Janette the ‘Guess Your Weight’ lady who operated by means of swami gimmick. He was also enthralled by Paul Clive and his magic shop on the North Pier (where Harry Corbet purchased Sooty), ranking Paul alongside Ken Brooke as a demonstrator.
Performing as Leslini in his early years, Leslie went onto earn £18 a week at Butlins in Clacton in the ‘60s. He was fascinated by the living marionettes, made famous by Bill Stickland among others, and his wife Yvonne had to suffer the indignity and discomfort of the dagger chest, operated by Leon Cortez.
To put us in the magic mood, Leslie began with some perfect rhyming patter to a safety-pin routine and his Dingle Dangle Wands, reminding us that he is a story-teller at heart. In fact, the overarching theme for the day was that magic is of limited value, indeed meaningless, without context.
Leslie recalled being taken to Barnsley as a boy of eight (not as a punishment, he insisted) to visit his uncle Ernest, who introduced him to the world of magic and a Mr Cooper who taught him thimble palming.
Leslie’s first magic convention was the Abracadabra Jamboree of 1947, where he encountered Eric ‘Nitwit’ Williams, and he learned a great deal from observing the colourful performers along the Golden Mile in Blackpool – such as Janette the ‘Guess Your Weight’ lady who operated by means of swami gimmick. He was also enthralled by Paul Clive and his magic shop on the North Pier (where Harry Corbet purchased Sooty), ranking Paul alongside Ken Brooke as a demonstrator.
Performing as Leslini in his early years, Leslie went onto earn £18 a week at Butlins in Clacton in the ‘60s. He was fascinated by the living marionettes, made famous by Bill Stickland among others, and his wife Yvonne had to suffer the indignity and discomfort of the dagger chest, operated by Leon Cortez.
TALES OF A TRAVELLING TRICKSTER WITH LESLIE MELVILLE
At one point Leslie was managed by Derek Lever, surviving late night clubs such as the Club Del Sol with mind reading and Giant Memory. He spoke amusingly about being wrongly advertised as appearing with a talking duck, and being erroneously heralded as Blackpool’s top comedy act. Having been ‘paid off’, he was then sacked by his agent who had been rejected by the booker – all through no fault of his own!
Leslie appeared on the television talent show New Faces in 1973, developing his popular thumb-tie routine, then, in the 1980s, he embarked upon a series of pantomime seasons in theatres ranging from Blackpool to the Tyne; usually as Abinaza, using a characterisation modelled upon Ali Bey.
We learned that the Percy Piecrust character and costume stemmed from Leslie’s appearance as Uncle Tea-Pot, based upon the Magic House books, spin-offs including work in schools on topics such as road safety and litter awareness.
There was a period of cruising, the creation of his trademark Jap box routine which he reprised faultlessly and, of course, the tale of Maurice Fogel and Madam Charmain the clairvoyant chicken, which is currently being recounted in these pages in serial form.
Leslie recalled seeing all the ‘greats’, from Dante to Kalanag, and rated among their number N’Gai, seen at the Queens Theatre in Blackpool during the war years.
It was a wonderful afternoon of reminiscences, transporting us back to the magic of yesteryear in the company of a complete professional and master of his trade.
Brian Lead
Leslie appeared on the television talent show New Faces in 1973, developing his popular thumb-tie routine, then, in the 1980s, he embarked upon a series of pantomime seasons in theatres ranging from Blackpool to the Tyne; usually as Abinaza, using a characterisation modelled upon Ali Bey.
We learned that the Percy Piecrust character and costume stemmed from Leslie’s appearance as Uncle Tea-Pot, based upon the Magic House books, spin-offs including work in schools on topics such as road safety and litter awareness.
There was a period of cruising, the creation of his trademark Jap box routine which he reprised faultlessly and, of course, the tale of Maurice Fogel and Madam Charmain the clairvoyant chicken, which is currently being recounted in these pages in serial form.
Leslie recalled seeing all the ‘greats’, from Dante to Kalanag, and rated among their number N’Gai, seen at the Queens Theatre in Blackpool during the war years.
It was a wonderful afternoon of reminiscences, transporting us back to the magic of yesteryear in the company of a complete professional and master of his trade.
Brian Lead