A beam of light runs from the muzzle of Thurston's pistol up to a sphere floating in the dome of the theatre. The Otis Lithograph Company of Cleveland, Ohio, printed the poster around 1929 to promote Howard Thurston's touring stage show. Thurston had succeeded Harry Kellar. The Iasia illusion was added to Thurston's show in 1929: the assistant sat in a cabinet hoisted over the audience, which was then shown to be empty.
Otis also produced posters for several of Thurston's other late-1920s and early-1930s features.
On the poster
Thurston stands in white tie and tails, pistol raised, at the centre of a vast circular theatre. Inside the sphere, Iasia, dressed in red, stands in a curtained cabinet. The crowd beneath fills every tier of the auditorium. A red devil flanks the magician, and two assistants haul ropes at stage left. Bold yellow-and-red lettering spells "THURSTON" across a black sky at the top.
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.





