Thanks…
… to everyone who came to the show and tell at the British Library today. I will be posting some of the images and the songs up here shortly. And hopefully some clips so those of you who didn’t come can also get to see.
Harry Von Tilzer
For any of you who were interested in the mention of the song Svengali in Disguise which was written by Harry Von Tilzer, a titbit of gossip from Michael Kilkarriff is that Mr Von Tilzer was Judy Garland’s Uncle. Showbiz!!!
More Music Hall Songs about Hypnosis
I spent a lot of time in the Rare Books and Music room. It’s weird looking at sheet music in a quiet reading room, especially the scores for popular songs. The desire to hum the tune is intense and not a good idea. Also there are so many Music Hall songs with the most appallingly racist titles and covers to match and it never seems a good moment to ponder over something with the word Coon in a florid font.
But success! I have found two interesting songs about hypnosis. Probably not sung by hypnotists (as Michael Kilgarriff suggests, they didn’t seem to cross over - it’s only somebody like me that would weaken the validity of both endeavours by attempting to sing and hypnotise), but comic songs about hypnotism none the less
They are It Must have Been Svengali in Disguise. This is about various people who are so good at getting their way that the chorus suggests they must have hypnotised those around them, and they were so effective that they must be the most notorious hypnotist/mesmerist Svengali
My favourite was sung by Charles Gardener and is called How I Mesmerise ‘Em. This tells the story of a fella who is trained as a hypnotist and everyone wants to know how he does it. Turns out he whacks his subjects over the head with a large stick! Ba-doom! Good gag.
Expect to hear both at my show and tell.
I have been in contact with the very wonderful Michael Kilgarriff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kilgarriff) who as well as being an authority on Music Hall and Variety is a very nice fella. I was asking him about songs that were sung by stage hypnotists. He replied that the Singing Hypnotist was a very rare beast in the archives - possibly because they didn’t exist. He did mention a song from 1912 called That Hypnotizing Man, but was worried it was never published. And do you know what? It’s on Youtube. Delightful! It’s made me very happy. Signing off now, your own, your very own, hypnotising man.
More about the Writers and Scholars Room at the Library. It’s full of glorious pictures from Colonial Times. I’m pretty sure everything was from the old East India Company but that might be my brain over-romanticising again. The thing that is for certain is that the desks are WILD. They are a riot of fantastical, colonial mish-mash weirdness in wood. I have been warned several times that they are part of the British Library collection and mustn’t be mistreated in any way. This is not very likely. They scare me.
Piano rehearsal in the Writers and Scholars Room at the British Library. I’m not sure this room has thrilled to the sound of music much. The Philatelists next door don’t seem to be clapping along. I always like being in here and feel lucky to have been invited to use it. I’m writing a new little song about the final appearance on the public record of the mesmerist Annie De Montford who I blogged about last week. She had a very busy career but is now completely forgotten, apart from a couple of posters in the Evanion Collection here at the British Library and some mentions in The Era newspaper. And now in a poignant little sentimental song.
The first Show & Tell of my residency
Hope you can come along to the first session where I will be sharing some of the items that have caught my attention. There will a little music, some chat and some nice things to look at. It’s all very informal - sign up and see you next week…..
Annie de Montford and other lady mesmerists
Lady Hypnotists
I have spent the day tracking down two lady hypnotists from the 19th Century. I was intrigued by this poster for Annie De Montford who was variously described as ‘the psychological star’ and an “electro-biologist”. She was more often called a Mesmerist but the period she was active in (1870s/1880s) was a time when the terms were used interchangeably.
there is no mention of her on Google - apart from references to this and one other image in the British Library - and my previous blogging about her. And, of course, usefully, lots of mentions about a production of Annie in the De Montford hall in Leicester. I see Su Pollard is starring in that. Good to see Su is busy. I remember her well from the time I was watching my friend Bobby Crush at Pizza on the Park and he asked for a volunteer from the audience and then without a millisecond gap said “Not you, Su!” Happy times.
Oh dear - distracted again. But using my new found research skills and the help of several British Library staff, I found many mentions of her in a newspaper called The Era. You can deduce quite a lot about someone from their adverts and reviews. She was very active between sept 1871 and sept 1882. She played to big houses everywhere. And somewhere along the line had a falling out with her manager, Edwin Hall who posted several rather plaintive adverts for work afterwards. He describes himself “Knows his work and does it!” I like this….
I was just wondering why the listings suddenly stopped in 1882. I clicked on the last listing and was amazed that the answer was potentially so clearly provided.
Boston
Shodfriar’s Hall - Miss Annie De Montford (the mesmerist) was advertised to occupy this hall for six nights, but (through ill-health) was unable to appear.
Was that it? She worked, had success, then got ill and didn’t work any more. Is it that simple? Very probably. And she was unlikely to have been languishing at home watching a DVD of Annie whilst claiming sickness benefit. So today I celebrate Annie De Montford. She was “the most powerful mesmerist in the world” and then she wasn’t.
I don’t want to be overly sentimental but I am glad to be celebrating her. I imagine all the touring was hard work. And maybe some nights she didn’t feel like claiming that her “mind ruled the world”, but she probably went ahead and performed anyway. Good for her! And I’m proud that my blogging about her pushes the production of Annie at the De Montford Hall just a little bit further down the listings.
Annie De Montford
stop press…
I just guessed at £75 for past life regression. it’s actually £147 for a session in Harley Street. I thought things were cheaper in the past.
