Fire-eating acts were few and far between at The Tivoli. I can only remember three the whole time I visited the Theatre. One was our own Jon Gresham who launched his professional career as, “Europe’s Youngest Fire Eater”. Jon appeared in theatres, circus, cabaret, films and television.

The second was Koringa, who could be described as a lady fakir. Her act consisted of fire eating, climbing a ladder of swords and hypnotism. She had a number of crocodiles on stage, one by one she hypnotised them, leaving each creature with its jaws wide open. They remained like that until the end of her act. Two men, picked from the audience, laid Koringa on two trestles, her neck resting on one and her feet on the other. Despite the space underneath, she remained rigid. A concrete block was placed on her stomach and the men were given sledge hammers, with which they smashed the block. The lady remained rigid and was apparently none the worse for her ordeal. To conclude, she was placed in a box and a quantity of sand was tipped Fire Eatersover her. She remained in the box, under the sand for a lengthy period of time. The sand was removed and she emerged from the box to loud applause. Koringa gained plenty of publicity because of her unusual act.

The third fire eater was Donna Delbert, billed as the “Demon Fire Eater” She was beautifully gowned with shoulder length hair and striking features. She greatly impressed the Tivoli audience as she extinguished lighted torches in her mouth and blew a veritable inferno of fire to conclude her act.After leaving Hull she appeared in Newcastle where she was arrested by the police. Acting on a tip-off the police went to the theatrical digs where she was staying. The United States Air Force later accused Donna Delbert of leading a double life. It was revealed that “she” was in fact a “he” - Private Delbert Hill of Philadelphia, a deserter for four years. A girl who assisted in the fire eating act said she had been with Delbert for a month without suspecting anything. Hill was later court martialed. Jon Gresham continued his fire eating career for many years and often appeared on HMC shows, a welcome breath of variety amongst all the magicians. How good it is that our member Tim Cockerill has recreated Jon’s act and the tradition continues.Jon GreshamJon Gresham posterTim Cockerill