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The London Archives

Past Performance: Magic Lantern Show

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21 November 2024Read about The London Archives' first ever Magic Lantern Show which was held in October 2024.
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In October 2024, The London Archives hosted its first Magic Lantern Show in conjunction with the ‘Lost Victorian City' exhibition. Seasoned performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker from the Magic Lantern Society put on a glorious show with a live improvised piano accompaniment by Costas Fotopoulos.

What is a magic lantern?

A magic lantern was an early form of projector used to tell a visual story. Light passes through glass slides which were originally hand-coloured. This type of entertainment originated in the seventeenth century and later became an educational tool. It was an early precursor to film-making by telling a story through projected images.

The show featured an authentic triunial (or Triple) magic lantern combining three projectors in a single device. This is the most complex and rarest form of magic lantern entertainment creating fast-moving shows featuring the most spectacular effects the lantern can produce.

Document display

Before the main event guests enjoyed a display of documents relating to magical illusions and devices and ghost-related themes for some pre-Halloween mood-setting. Guests also had the chance to view our 'Lost Victorian City' exhibition after hours.

image of a magic lantern film projector
'Magic Lantern' film projector as part of the document display of 'Ghosts and Magical Illusions' in the Document Pod.
people viewing documents
People viewing documents relating to 'Ghosts and Magical Illusions' in the Document Pod.
two people view the Lost Victorian City exhibition and are looking at a wall on Limehouse
Guests viewing the 'Limehouse' section of the 'Lost Victorian City' exhibition.

The main event

The audience were treated to a sequence of images, often to humorous effect including, a skipping skeleton, a woman revealing a skeleton beneath her mask, and a sleeping man whose beard lifted and accidentally consumes a series of rodents! Images were selected according to the Victorian-London theme of the evening and some cityscapes also made an appearance.

a girl in a pink dress and curly hair points
A slide of a girl from the Magic Lantern Show
an acrobat flies through the air with red theatre curtains either side
A slide of an acrobat from the Magic Lantern Show
a slide of children playing on a see-saw in a bucolic scene
A slide of children playing on a see-saw in a bucolic scene from the Magic Lantern Show
Explore the Lost Victorian City

Find out more about the performers…

Carolyn and Jeremy Brooker have been performing together for over 20 years to perfect this demanding art (www.jeremybrooker.com) and are members of the Magic Lantern Society.

Acclaimed silent film pianist Costas Fotopoulos (http://www.costasfotopoulos.com) is based in London and works internationally as a composer and arranger for film, the stage and the concert hall, and performs as a concert, silent film and jazz pianist.

We hope they'll be back next year! Watch this space.

a woman holds a slide next to the magic lantern projector which has a skeleton cover draped over it
Carolyn Brooker talks to guests about the Magic Lantern projector.
Find out about the Magic Lantern Society