Joe Lyons wrote:
Reading about 19th and 20th century magicians from books by Caveney, Rauscher, Charvet, Kaufman et al. and their miraculous adventures which were sometimes as magical as the acts themselves.
I have been reading a book this morning written in the mid 20th century and was greatly amused and delighted by the following advice:
"Smilingly invite a lady and gentleman to the stage. Shake hands with the gentleman but do not attempt to shake hands with the lady unless she offers her hand. So many conjurers proffer their hand to a lady and she is compelled to accept. A very slight bow to the lady accompanied by a pleasant smile is what etiquette demands. To exceed this will irritate those in your audience who know better. (and for heavens sake, do not ask the lady for her Christian name. This is unpardonable.
Address the lady as "madam" and the gentleman as "sir". Have the lady (at least) seated comfortably as soon as possible"
I also remember reading something in an even older book written in the thirties saying it was "unpardonable" to invite a lady on stage in the first place! Come to think of it I usually leave them in the audience myself. Gut instinct tells me that it is better that way.
I am delighted by all this and wish it were the way things were done nowadays. For example I utterly detest the present day practice of asking audience volunteers on stage their names. A simple "sir" or "madam" should indeed suffice. I would never volunteer to help a magician on stage but if I did and they asked my name I would be highly tempted to tell them to mind their own business. I consider it a breach of privacy.
When I am performing myself I do ask the volunteers their names but I really hate doing it. I don't care what their bloody name is and they probably don't want me to know anyway.
No. I prefer the old ways.