Exeunt

Carol Raye, 1923–2022

I was well established in Sydney theatre by 1964, thanks to my series of villains at the legendary Music Hall Theatre and one revue at the Phillip Theatre which brought me to the attention of Gordon Chater, already a widely known and popular actor and revue performer.

At around the same time, Carol and her husband Robert Ayre-Smith had moved to Australia. With a BBC course of television production under her belt, Carol approached ATN with an idea for a program of topical satire in the vein of the BBC’s hugely successful That Was The Week That Was. She was fortunate that the man to whom she outlined her idea was the then general manager, James Oswin who, in the early days of Australian television, was an imaginative man open to new ideas.

One night in the spring of 1964, the paths of the above dramatis personae would cross mine. I was playing The Evil Men Do at the Music Hall for which I’d written my own part, and was aware of Gordon’s bawdy laugh echoing over all others in the audience. A surreptitious glance beyond the footlights confirmed he was indeed present, surrounded by Channel 7 chiefs and the glamorous Carol Raye. The following day I was approached to be part of a pilot for a new TV series of satirical comedy.

The pilot was a success and the ground-breaking Mavis Bramston Show was born. Gordon, Carol and I were the core stars, and a great deal of the success of the show depended on the chemistry between the three of us. The sanity of this disparate casting was at Carol's instigation and made sense—we three exuded establishment sensibilities, yet were playing anti-establishment material. The shock value was far greater than if three undergrads performed the same material.

Over the time we spent together in Bramston, we became a family. But as well as being a star and producer of the show, Carol had a family of her own to take care of. I enjoyed the company of her husband Robert Ayre-Smith and her three children, Sally, Mark and Harriet.

After the slog of two years on Bramston and a year doing my own show in Melbourne, In 1968 I relocated to London for ten years. By coincidence, Carol and Gordon happened to be there too in the late ’sixties. I did a revue at London’s Mayfair theatre with Gordon in 1969 (Ten Years Hard) and another with Carol in 1970 (This, That and the Other) produced by the celebrated Ray Cooney.

Carol Raye (centre) with Tom Oliver and Barry Creyton in This, That and the Other, Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea, 1970. Photo by John Alexander Studio.

Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation

When I returned to Australia, in the early ’80s, Carol suggested I might write a comedy spot for us to perform on the Mike Walsh Show. I wrote a sketch in which Carol played Margaret Thatcher about to wage war on the Falklands. It was a great success and the producers asked for more. I thought my grab bag of gags might run to about six sketches, but ultimately, we did about eighty over a two year period.

With minimal in-person rehearsal, usually in a dressing room on the morning of the show, the spots worked in great part because Carol and I knew each other so well, and were intuitively aware of what we would bring to a sketch in terms of character and timing.

At this time we also performed together in Michael Frayn’s Noises Off. Michael Blakemore came to Sydney to direct. He left the casting to the London Stage Manager who conferred with Stuart Wagstaff and producer Wilton Morley to put the actors together. It seemed like the perfect cast: Daniel Abineri, Frank Wilson, Anne Charleston, Carol, Stuart and I were all well known to audiences, and well suited to the characters. I’d worked with Michael in a play in which he directed me at the Royal Court in London so it was a happy reunion for me.

However, until we started rehearsing in earnest, I don’t think Carol fully understood how unglamorous the part of Dotty was. We played Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide with enormous success, but Carol tired of playing the character by then and decided to drop out of the rest of the tour. She was replaced by Jill Perryman who did the rest of the long and successful run.

In spite of the changes to Noises Off, I was still working with Carol weekly. She and I were still appearing every Monday on the Mike Walsh Show in sketches I wrote for us. I’d fax the sketches to her and then, Monday mornings, I’d fly into Sydney from wherever I was playing, we’d do the sketch live, and I’d return to Noises Off that night. It says a great deal for the rapport we had that we could rehearse for half an hour in a Channel 9 dressing room, then do the sketch live and never mistime a laugh. That kind of empathic relationship between actors is hard to come by and is treasure when it happens.

In the late ’80s I relocated to the United States where I’ve lived for thirty-five years. I saw Carol and Robert on every return to Australia, and she, Gordon and I were briefly reunited for a press pic in the late 1990s. This was the last time the three of us were together.

In 2004, Carol came to stay at my house in the Hollywood Hills. We spent a happy week touring the sights of LA. Carol’s energy and curiosity were unflagging and generally, she managed to walk me and my partner Vaughan Edwards off our feet as we inspected the city.

My trips to my homeland have become less frequent as I continue to live and work in the US, but my correspondence with Carol was regular over the years and more like that between family members than friends.

I’m greatly in her debt for pronouncing favorably on me on that night she and the Channel 7 team came to the Music Hall to give me the once over. I’m fortunate to have known Carol as a colleague, but much more than that, I’m blessed that we were good friends for much of my adult life. Her extraordinary talent alone set her apart from and above her peers, and endorsed her ‘star quality’; but her warmth, her sense of humor, her capacity for making friends of family and family of friends was a rare thing and to be treasured.

How lucky I am she entered my life fifty-eight years ago, and luckier still that she was a major part of my life since that night.

The Mavis Bramston Show

I heartily recommend Stephan Wellink’s splendid documentary, Pushing the Boundaries. Meticulously researched, and brilliantly constructed, it details the national social and political climates of the time, and how we changed them. We did indeed push boundaries. Australia was a deeply conservative country in the mid 60s—movies were censored, books were banned, Australia was ‘white’ and England was ‘home’ whether one had been there or not. Carol’s visionary idea was that Australians were ready to loosen up and laugh at themselves. And indeed we were.

As stated by the historians in the documentary, Bramston changed the way Australians thought about ourselves and our politics. It helped us move beyond the cultural cringe, the feeling my generation was bludgeoned with since birth, that Australia was a poor relation to the United Kingdom. It proved that we had a unique national personality, and one to be proud of.

Australian TV owes Carol an immense debt, as do many of the comedy shows which came in Bramston’s wake. She not only opened the way for female executives in the business, but was a multi-talented, glamorous performer to boot!

Gerald Taylor, 1 September 1927–21 January 2022

Gerald Taylor, 1957. Photo by Anthony Caton Studio, Brisbane. Courtesy Kristina Forbes.Gerald Taylor devoted his life to entertainment and to the art and history of magic.

When I reflect on Gerald’s wonderful life, I picture three major acts. Gerald started off as a young man learning his craft and was then an in-demand performer on stage and television. He then became a business owner, author, historian, and volunteer who generously shared his experience and knowledge with others.

He was quite rightly acknowledged for achievements throughout his life but most of all he was respected and loved by all those who had the pleasure of being his colleague and friend.

Born in Brisbane in 1927, Gerald Taylor was the only child of Gerald Albert Taylor and May Jerks. In the 1920s his father was recognised as an Australian sprint champion winning numerous races including the Stawell Gift.

While Gerald didn’t follow in his father’s ‘footsteps’ as an athlete, he too had a unique talent. Given a book on magic at the age of eight and left to his own devices while his parents ran the Penfold’s Wine Saloon in Brisbane, Gerald soon learnt tricks and was amazing family and friends with his sleight of hand.

Act 1—‘How’s Tricks?’

In 1941 when Gerald was 14 years old, he saw The Great Levante’s¹ show, How’s Tricks? at His Majesty’s Theatre in Brisbane. Recently returned from a highly successful tour of England, Levante was by this time an internationally acclaimed illusionist whose show impressed the young Gerald.

Like many of his generation growing up during World War II, Gerald left school early to join the workforce. Always conscientious his jobs were however a backdrop to a burgeoning interest in theatre and magic. One of the places he performed at during this time was the American Red Cross Services Club which arranged concerts, musical shows and plays for convalescing soldiers. Gerald could also be seen at the Cremorne Theatre.

Gerald realised that he would need to hone all aspects of his stage presence as part of his development as a magician. Calling it ‘… the best money I ever spent’, he enlisted the help of well-known Brisbane broadcaster Barry Borradale who taught him elocution and voice production techniques.²

The 1950s were a busy and satisfying time for Gerald. While working fulltime, he continued to perform and develop networks with other Australian magicians. In 1955, he sold one of his illusions which became known as ‘The Box of Pam’, to Abbott’s Magical Novelty Company³ based in Michigan. He was also invited by Charles Wicks⁴ to form the Brisbane Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The first meeting was held in June 1954 with Gerald elected as President.

The Wonderland of Magic, Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, 1963

Courtesy QPAC Museum, Queensland Performing Arts Centre

Gerald Taylor on the cover of international conjuring magazine Genii, January 1976

Courtesy Kristina Forbes

Act 2—The Wonderland of Magic

The turning point in Gerald’s professional career was taking a calculated risk by producing and starring in his own show The Wonderland of Magicat Her Majesty’s Theatre, Brisbane. Presented by J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd, it opened on the 19 August and ran until 24 August 1963. Audiences were treated to acts such as ‘Sawing a Person in Half’ and ‘The Impossible Trunk Substitution’, as well as being entertained by Will Mahoney. Reviews for the show were positive: ‘In quick succession Taylor performed tricks that never failed to amaze—or frustrate—the audience. He was definitely a top-class magician.’⁵

With the success of The Wonderland of Magic and the training he had received from Barry Borradale, Gerald had a repertoire of skills that were in demand in the early years of television. He performed on QTQ9 Brisbane in 1959 and on Anything Goes on Channel 2 (ABC TV) the same year. This was followed by appearances on shows including Tonight with Dave Allen, 1963, and The Tommy Hanlon Show, 1967–68. On In Melbourne Tonight Gerald showcased his illusion ‘The 1000 Pound Key Challenge’ and was proud that he was never obliged to pay a hopeful member of the public the cash prize.⁶

While performing on stage and television, Gerald continued to contribute to national and international magic forums where he was highly regarded. In 1962 he received an award from the International Brotherhood of Magicians, USA for a treatise titled A Revolutionary Approach to Black Art.

Act 3—Magical Nights at the Theatre

After a year performing on the Sydney Club circuit, Gerald moved to Melbourne and began working with Alf Gertler⁷ at Bernard’s Magic Shop in Elizabeth Street. This was his first introduction to retailing magical apparatus as well as ‘tricks’, and in 1966 opened Aladdin’s Magic Shop which he owned until 1980. After Gerald returned from a period in Queensland, he came full circle by purchasing Bernard’s Magic Shop which he ran from 1986 until he retired in 1990. Gerald’s businesses became a one-stop shop for magicians of all ages who valued his advice and experience.

After selling Aladdin’s, and always looking to expand his horizons, Gerald moved back to Queensland in 1981. He was attracted by the plans to expand Magic Mountain, a theme part at Currumbin, which incorporated the Magic Castle, at that time managed by his friend Arthur Coglan, an escapologist and illusionist. The redevelopment of the Magic Castle featured a larger theatre, and a Magical Hall of Fame which Gerald researched and created and was able to display some of his personal collection. Gerald and Arthur performed in the new venue entertaining audiences until Magic Mountain closed in 1987.

Throughout his life Gerald was interested in the history of magic and in 1980 edited and published Charles Waller’s⁸ Magical Nights at the Theatre. The book remains a valuable resource on the history of Australian magic.

Gerald with the J.C. Williamson collectionGerald was to go on to have another career as a volunteer archivist with the Australian Performing Arts Collection. Gerald’s first task was to catalogue the magical apparatus and provide guidance on their display thereby ensuring that none of the ‘secrets’ were inadvertently given away. Gerald then transcribed oral histories that had been collected by Vicki Fairfax for her book A Place Across the River. Gerald was delighted to move onto the J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd archive, sorting and organising business records.

Gerald became a loved member of the Australian Performing Arts Collection family. In 1992 he received The Green Mill Award for his ‘Lifetime commitment to the art of illusion in Australia and to the preservation of its traditions and history.’

This was one of several awards Gerald received during his lifetime. He was a member of the Inner Magic Circle of the Magic Circle of London with Gold Star M.I.M.C. and was given a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award in Australian Magic’ at the Silver Anniversary Magical Convention in Melbourne in 1996. An International Brotherhood of Magicians USA, Order of Merlin—Excelsior award followed in 2010.

Gerald Taylor played an important role in ensuring the history of Australian magic would endure for future generations. He was a mentor to many young magicians and performers who sought his wise counsel, as well as being an entertainer, inventor, archivist and gentleman.

Gerald’s ‘wonderland of magic’ will live on.

Gerald’s Memorial was held in the Pavilion Room, Arts Centre Melbourne on Friday 11 February 2022.

Endnotes

1. The Great Levante (ne Leslie George Cole, 1892-1978). His daughter Esme embarked on a successful career as a magician.

2. T. Young, ‘First Eulogy’ read at Gerald Taylor’s Memorial, The Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne, 11 February 2022

3. Percy Abbott (1886-1960) was an Australian magician and magic dealer who opened Abbott’s Magic Novelty Company, Colon, Michigan in 1933.

4. Charles Wicks (1900-1967) was an inventor of magical effects who contributed to international magic journals.

5. ‘Magician’s tricks astound audience’, Telegraph, Brisbane, 20 August 1963

6. Op cit. Young.

7. Alf Gertler performed as ‘Bernard the Magician’.

8. Charles Waller 1879-1960 was an Australian businessman, amateur magician, and author.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Kristina Forbes for advice and permission to use photographs of Gerald. Tim Young’s Eulogy provided me with the basis for finding out more about Gerald’s life and achievements.

Special thanks to Maria Cleary, Exhibitions Officer, QPAC Museum for providing access to archival material and reviews of The Wonderland of Magic.

For more information about Gerald Taylor including photographs and to view his Memorial Service go to https://www.geraldtaylor.com.au

MAGICPEDIA was also a helpful resource for research, seehttps://geniimagazine.com/wiki