Prince KarMi - 3 Sheet

40" x 78” - Large 3 Sheet

CONDITION: MINT - MOUNTED

ACTUAL SHIPPING COSTS APPLY TO THIS ITEM

Kar-Mi (Joseph Hallworth). Prince Kar-Mi Presenting Mysteries of the Spirit World. New York: National, ca. 1914. Three-sheet poster with central medallion bust of Kar-Mi. . Folded in sheets. Scattered edgewear. Minor closed tears and creasing at edges. KAR-MI was the stage name of performer Joseph Hallworth (1872–1956), an itinerant entertainer who worked in Wild West shows, circuses, dime museums, riverboats, vaudeville, movie houses, and other venues from the 1890s to the beginning of World War I.

Prince Karmi dressed in a colorful East Indian prince costume. He was assisted by a man, also in Indiam costume, but his female assistant Selma was in soubrette outfit. The act ran about twelve minutes.

He appeared to swallow a gun barrel, then used the gun to shoot a cracker off the male assistant's head.

Two questions written on papers and sealed in envelopes Karmi held the envelopes on the run-down whilst Selma wrote the answer to the first question on a large sheet of paper. The answer to the second question appear on a slate which had previously been shown blank.

Selma was hypnotized and laid on a table, where she was covered with a sheet, lifted and carried to another lower table at stage center. This was then covered with a canopy. Two watches were borrowed and wrapped in a handkerchief. The bundle was put into a large glass and beer from a bucket poured over. Bucket was placed aside on a chair.

Glass was covered with a cloth from which glass, watches and beer vanish. A hand appears from under the canopy over the table holding the glass which is taken away. Then the hand produces the first watch and finally a giant watch.

This giant watch is wrapped in paper and taken to the audience, but when unwrapped it had turned into a rabbit.

Canopy and cloth is removed from table and Selma had vanished, leaving a bed of roses in her place. Going to pick up the beer bucket from the chair, that had also vanished.

A lattice screen (Leon's Changing Screen) was brought forward and the male assistant placed before it. A canopy was pulled down in front of him and he instantly changed into Selma, who was dressed in a short skirt, A gun was fired. Her skirt vanished, leaving her in tights, the missing bucket appeared on her head, and pinned to a garter on her leg was the second missing watch.