showbusiness

A true yarn. I was ashore in Trincomalee once in the fifties and there, by the side of the road was a Fakir snake charmer with his snakes, his snake baskets, his 'for effect' flute and his staked out mongoose. All he had on was a skimpy loin cloth, a skimpier scraggly beard and boy did he look the part?..... straight down out of the hills! The snakes were cobras and of course I assumed that they had had the poison sacs removed, I mean, come on, who on earth would let a British sailor wear a fully armed cobra around his neck so he could have his picture taken with it? Yes, that's what I did, let him drape a snake around my neck while I passed my camera to a chum to get a picture. THEN things started to go not quite as planned. The snake was around my neck when it twisted its head around till it was arched and it was looking me right in the eyes, so close that I swear I got cross eyed looking at it. Then I saw that the snakes right eye was hanging right down out of the socket and dangling on it's 'cheek'.....the mongoose must have had a go at it. It was about then that my legs started to shake, my knees started to knock and I started to think of my mother and how much she would miss me! The Fakir must have realised what was going to happen because he suddenly grabbed the snakes tail and whipped it away from my face just as it struck! I had a beard and as the beasts fangs snapped shut in the beard as it was dragged clear it pulled a big chunk of my beard out with it.....that bloody hurt as well! Now I can tell you the following true facts, your knees DO knock, you DO go grey with fear and after something like this your chums DO have to lead you away and buy you a pint! Oh! and after all that my dingbat of a mate had'nt even got a picture, he could'nt figure out how to work the bloody camera! Did I go back and try again?..........Yeah.......riiiiggghhht!

@FrigateRN Cracker of a story!

Wow, look at that skin he's wearing. A serious warrior!

This is a really rare Photo. Amazing how they looked .

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William James (Will) Mahoney (1894-1967), vaudevillian and theatre manager, was born on 5 February 1894 at Helena, Montana, United States of America. Will first performed on stage in 1902. He and Frank ('The Mahoney Bros') devised an act and eventually played on the vaudeville circuit. By 1914 they had toured North America and Mexico, and had visited Melbourne. Single-minded, and a perfectionist, Mahoney was said to be the highest-paid variety star in America, allegedly earning $5500 per week by the early 1930s. He and his partner Bob Geraghty worked in Britain in 1934-38. Their shows, Radio New York, Why Be Serious and Bats in the Belfry, featured an American artiste, Evie Hayes. She was aged 25 when Will married her on 26 March 1938 at the register office, Westminster, London. That year Frank Neil, managing director of the Tivoli vaudeville circuit in Australia, brought Mahoney, Hayes and Geraghty to Melbourne. Their first performance at the Tivoli Theatre on 22 August 1938 marked the beginning of seventeen successful tours of Australasia. As part of their contract, they appeared in Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd's 1939 film, Come Up Smiling (renamed Ants in his Pants). In January 1943 Mahoney joined Geraghty in the management of the Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane. Popular with American and Australian servicemen, the theatre attracted entertainers from overseas, among them Mahoney's friends Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Gary Cooper, Larry Adler and Artie Shaw. Following the end of World War II, variety shows attracted smaller audiences and the Cremorne began to lose money. In 1948 Mahoney closed his theatre and returned to the U.S.A. to revitalize his career. His reception was overwhelming and he was acclaimed as 'the most versatile variety artist in the world'. Accepting another Tivoli contract, he came back to Australia in April 1959. He and Evie settled in Melbourne, played in musicals, and taught young performers. They appeared together in Funny Girl in 1966 until Mahoney collapsed on stage in November. He died on 9 February 1967 in South Melbourne and was buried in Melbourne general cemetery; his wife survived him, as did the son of his first marriage and the daughter of his second. Local and international media paid tribute to the 'little American leprechaun with the laughing blue eyes, endearing smile, black bowler hat, and magic dancing feet'. Source: adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mahoney-william-james-will-11038

Thank you Vesna, I was wondering who he was ...

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graciosa imagen!

I had to dress him up a bit! ;-) www.sumo.fm/#image/id=2070320

This is a press shot of the magician Carlton, known as The Human Hairpin. His autobiography can be found online here: archive.org/details/twentyyearsofspo00carl This shot is used on page 21 of his book.