$12(1 customer rating) ★★★★★
Once again Goodliffe provides a stimulating introduction to another archive series recording. This time the subject is Kalanag - Master Illusionist.
The live recordings from Sim Sala Bim have been drawn from various sources. Without the marvelous introduction by Goodliffe this recording would simply be a record of the past but now, Kalanag lives again. Goodliffe was the first British magician who was allowed to see Kalanag's show from backstage.
Goodliffe starts with a short introduction on Helmut Schreiber, aka Kalanag, including some of his Nazi background, accusations, and counterpoints. He then offers a description of Kalanag's UK tour and program with some parallels drawn to Dante's UK tour prior to WWII, as Goodliffe remembered it, with effects like the Wunderbar, a watch restoration including instant photography, vanish of a motor car, and vanish of his assistant Gloria. This takes up the first side of the recording. The second side is almost entirely dedicated to a recording of the Sim Sala Bim show.
originally released 1977 by Martin Breese; runtime: 50 minutes
