JK GILLON

JOHN Henry Anderson, the Great Wizard of the North, was probably the finest magician that Scotland ever produced. Anderson was born in 1814, the son of a tenant farmer, at Craigmyle, near Aberdeen. He was orphaned at an early age and started work as an apprentice to the local blacksmith, however, he had ambitions to be an actor and joined up with a group of touring players. During this period Anderson saw his first magic act and was fascinated by the performance. He made and acquired apparatus to put together a show and started to develop his own special brand of magic.

Anderson made his debut as a magician in Aberdeen and shortly afterwards, in March, 1837, he had received 10 pounds for a performance at Brechin Castle for Lord Panmure, and an endorsement which he quoted on his advertising material: "I have no hesitation in saying that you far excel any other necromancer that I have ever saw, either at home or abroad." This marked the start of his extravagant advertising and he was to become "the greatest exponent of publicity and promotion in the history of magic". This was to include the issue of butter pats inscribed; "Anderson is here" to hotels in towns where he appeared.

At this time Anderson was billing himself as "The Great Caledonian Conjuror" and it was not until around 1840 that he emerged as "The Great Wizard of the North", a title he claimed had been bequeathed to him by Sir Walter Scott, the original Wizard of the North.

Anderson who was a showman in the grand manner, is credited with moving magic from fairgrounds to the theatre and was believed to be the first conjuror to ever pull rabbits from a hat. He had some wonderful tricks and illusions in his act. These included: the Inexhaustible Bottle, which produced any drink requested by the members of the audience, and the Great Gun Trick, in which Anderson was seemingly able to catch a bullet fired at him from a musket. The Gun Trick was described as "the most wonderful feat ever attempted by man; an extraordinary deception" was always kept as the finale of his act in order that "ladies might withdraw, to avoid witnessing the Gun Trick".

His tours were remarkable for the time: he travelled with his show to the United States, Canada, most European countries and was probably one of the first showbusiness acts to perform in Russia.

In 1845, Anderson poured the profits from his tours into the erection of the Glasgow City Theatre, at the foot of Saltmarket, on Glasgow Green. The City Theatre was " the biggest and most magnificent that Glasgow had ever seen". It was an enormous structure; 130 feet long, 70 feet wide, 50 feet high with a 50 feet deep stage. It could hold 5,000 people and was "unequalled in the country for its interior splendour"

The opening of the Theatre coincided with the start of the City Fair in July, 1845 and the pit, which could hold 3,000 customers, was "crammed even to inconvenience". Soon its great success began to worry other theatre owners in Glasgow but after five months disaster struck. On November 18 the theatre was burned to the ground.

Anderson was under insured and despite help from subscriptions and benefit performances held by friendly theatre owners, he was badly in debt and started touring again in an attempt to retrieve his fortunes.

One of the highlights of the Great Wizard's career came in 1849, when he was summoned to Balmoral to give a command performance for Queen Victoria. However, another fire, at the Covent Garden Theatre in London, which he had leased in 1856 plunged Anderson even more deeply into debt. He continued to tour with his magic show until his death in Darlington on February 3 1874 and the Great Wizard was brought back to Scotland and is buried in St Nicholas Churchyard in Aberdeen.