The Amazing Mr Rooklyn

Four-year-old Maurice Rooklyn was spellbound on seeing a travelling magician pull coins from thin air. From that day forth, he began to work on his own skills as hypnotist, juggler, ventriloquist, illusionist and magician, to become one of Australia’s leading entertainers through the 1950s and 60s.

This ball stand was designed by Maurice for his signature routine in which he would produce a billiard ball from thin air and roll it over his knuckles, all the while changing its colour and making it gradually multiply into several solid billiard balls. The trick won him the title of World Champion Prestidigitationist (master of sleight-of-hand) and admittance as a Master Fellow of the exclusive Academy of Magical Arts in Los Angeles.

The Amazing Mr Rooklyn sawed people in half, stretched ladies and read minds; he even predicted the headlines of the major Sydney newspapers. His prediction was signed by the lord mayor, sealed in dough and baked; the loaf of bread was displayed in a department store window under guard for two days. He was right!

The most dangerous trick Maurice ever performed was catching a flying bullet in his teeth. Twice he was shot onstage when the bullet missed its mark.