Professor Testo - Fire and Water
Initially, this performer seemed to have made only few appearances, and was named by the press as “Mr. Testoo, the Spanish Wizard”. However, later discoveries point to his proper stage name being “Testo”, and reveals a longer span of performances.
He first advertised a performance as Testo the Fire King, for a concert to be given on January 6, 1857, at the Britannia Hotel, Beechworth (on the gold fields). The performance was to include legerdemain, and Testo “will bend a two inch bar of hot iron, with his bare feet, for the first time in this district.”
Shortly afterward “the celebrated and far-famed Wizard” appeared at Bendigo’s British and American Hotel on March 6, 1857, with a Mons. Adelle, ventriloquist. His act included the Bullet Catching feat, and fire eating.
January 3, 1857
Of another performance on March 9, the Bendigo Advertiser said:-
“THE SPANISH WIZARD. - Mr. Testoo, a professor of the magic art, gave an entertainment last night at the Royal Hotel, High-street. He really is a most extraordinary person, and performs the usual feats in which the professors of his art excel, very neatly. We left him taking supper off a large piece of blazing tow soaked in turpentine, and he appeared to enjoy his fiery meal. He is well worth seeing, and if he performs again, will probably have a very crowded room to witness his marvellous doings.”
Finally, a report from the “Tarrengower Fields”, a goldrush region, now the township of Maldon, south-east of Bendigo:
Mount Alexander Mail, April 15, 1857 -
“Mr. Testoo, the Spanish wizard, gave several very clever entertainments during the week at Bruce's Royal Hotel. His feats of prestidigitation are excellent, and his manner of catching a bullet fired by any one of the audience from a loaded gun is astonishing. It is fortunate for Mr. T. that he was not born two centuries ago, otherwise his talents, instead of being as now a source of wealth, might have occasioned his being burnt in Smithfield for the amusement of a few and the terror of the many. It is, however, a matter of doubt whether the flames would have had any effect on him, for, when I left the Royal last Saturday evening, he was having a "feed" of blazing tow soaked in turpentine, which he seemed to eat with much gusto. Judging from appearances Mr. Testoo must be one of those salamanders whose existence was till now imagined to be a fable invented by the ancients. I must not omit to mention the ventriloquism of Mr. Adelle, nor the clever performance of Mr. Delaco on different wind instruments.”
Both the British and American Hotel, and the Royal at Maldon still exist today.
From the brevity of his first appearances it can be concluded that Mr. ”Testoo” was probably a miner in the goldfields. Likewise, Mons. Adelle was only seen once more, at the Crow Hotel, Silver Creek, on September 5 of the same year, “for the last time in the neighbourhood, other engagements precluding the possibility of a longer stay in the Ovens [district].”
However, in 1860, the wizard reappeared, and in all future advertising and commentary he was referred to as either “Mr. Testo” or “Professor Testo”; no further ties to Spanish ancestry were mentioned, and on some occasions he adopted the title “Renowned Wizard of Australia”, which title had also been used by Prof. Rignold.
He popped up in Kiama on the east coast of New South Wales, giving several performances at the Steam Packet Inn at the start of September 1860, the nearby Gerringong Arms on September 17 and 18. The Illawarra Mercury commented ‘he performed two nights, but with what success I cannot say, although it is likely that he had a thin house, for it would take a witch much less a wizard, to conjure the money out of people’s pockets.’
Professor Testo, “Fire King and Wizard” was noted in 1863 at Armidale (northern NSW) in late January and Ipswich (QLD) on March 7. He would have performed at Breakfast Creek (Brisbane) in early April, but the Police Magistrate refused permission, on the grounds that the house at Breakfast Creek were troublesome enough already, and that the police had frequently made complaints of their disorderly character. This seems to have been no reflection on Testo himself, whose ability was mentioned favourably by the newspapers.
So it would seem that Testo, whether or not he advertised in the newspapers frequently, was a journeying performer. By February 1864 he had been through Tenterfield, receiving plaudits - “the extraordinary feats of Mr. Testo with the element of ire, as well as performing very cleverly many sleight of hand tricks ….. performances were very well attended, and bear a character well worthy of being patronised.” He head for Grafton, raising £9 for the benefit of the local hospital, in early March, and in later March it was noted that Testo and singer Mrs. Smith entertained passengers voyaging on a steamer around the Grafton region. In May, 1864, he was appearing in Lismore.
However, Testo’s career was to be cut short by a tragedy. On the night of June 2, 1864, the paddle-wheel steamer, “Rainbow”, on which Testo was a passenger from the Richmond River, was beset by heavy gales blowing on the east coast and, at Seal Rock Bay near Port Stephens, the vessel was cast onto the shore, with the loss of seven lives including passengers and crew. Professor Testo was one of those killed.