Let's go back a few decades, to a time when fairs were synonymous with shows and attractions of all kinds. In those days, between the wild animal tamer and the vendor of all kinds of objects, there were magician's booths, which were nothing more or less than small travelling theaters.
With an imposing storefront and posters here and there, everything is done to attract passers-by and entice them into the theater. A small area, like a proscenium, is usually present to introduce the artists and sometimes even perform a few magic tricks as a foretaste of what will be presented at the show to definitely convince the public to come and settle in.
But with theaters' facades becoming ever more imposing, and with ever more equipment, magicians, like other artists, had to invest in small trucks to transport them from town to town. This led to the gradual emergence of vehicles that were immediately transformed into giant billboards, allowing artists to bring their equipment with them.
This debauchery of means contrasts with other artists who, for lack of vehicles or out of wish, preferred to take with them a simple set of goblets and a table. Here's a little game for you: can you find the goblet player on this illustrated 19th-century score? 🙂
These magnificent theaters gradually disappeared from the fairgrounds, and today are only preserved thanks to the few photos we still have of them. May this article revive them a little, and introduce you to these curious shows that must have been incredible to experience... except for a certain rabbit (see below)!
Credits
All images come from the collection of the Centre de Recherche sur la Prestidigitation - Thibault Ternon and can be freely reused by anyone, in any medium, simply by indicating the original source.