Description:Chung Ling Soo- magician and masquerader
Chung Ling Soo was the stage name of William Ellsworth Robinson, a stage magician from America. Born in 1861, Robinson modelled his act on Chinese magician Ching Ling Foo and toured his imitation act in America and Europe at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries. Whilst performing, Robinson's greatest illusion was maintaining the persona of a Chinese magician. His claimed not to speak English and consequently conducted his act in silence. When he did speak it would be through an 'interpreter'.
Although not a 'black' artist himself, Robinson's act provides an example of the way in which 'race' and ethnicity have been utilised on the stage. Whilst minstrel shows employed images of black people as objects of fun, other acts, like that of Robinson, traded on the mystery and exoticism of 'other' peoples and cultures.
Tragically, Robinson was killed during a performance of his bullet-catching trick in London in 1918.
The photograph above shows Robinson dressed as Chung Ling Soo performing a trick with his assistant (and wife) Olive Path. It is one of a collection of photographs taken of the performer which is held in Birmingham City Archives (MS 310/1684.) Among the photographs are images of Chinese acrobats from the same period.