Evidently, however, Phillippe made rapid progress, for a programme dated Saturday, April 21st, 1838, shows that his last daytime or matinée performance in Waterloo Rooms was given under the patronage of such members of the nobility as the Right Honorable Lady Gifford, the Right Honorable Lady H. Stuart Forbes, etc. In an Edinburgh programme, dated probably 1837, he is shown as performing his tricks, clad in peculiar evening clothes, knickerbockers and waistcoat matching, with a mere suggestion of the swallow-tail coat. In his 1838 bill he is shown clad in the flowing robes of the old-time magician, and he advertises the Chinese tricks, notably the gold-fish trick, which demanded voluminous draperies.
According to Robert-Houdin, Phillippe built a small wooden theatre in Glasgow. Humble as this building was, however, it brought a significant factor into Phillippe’s life. This was a young bricklayer named Andrew Macallister who had a natural genius for tricks and models, and who became Phillippe’s apprentice, later appearing as Domingo, his assistant on the stage, wearing black make-up.
In either Edinburgh or Dublin Phillippe met the Chinese juggler or conjurer who taught him the gold-fish trick and the secret of the Chinese rings.
Armed with these two striking tricks, Phillippe determined to satisfy his yearning to return to his native land, and in 1841 he appeared at the Salle Montesquieu, Paris. Later, the Bonne-Nouvelle, a temple of magic, was opened for Phillippe in Paris, and there he enjoyed the brilliant run to which Robert-Houdin refers in his “Memoirs.”
Phillippe was an indefatigable worker and traveller, and one brilliant engagement followed another. During the 40’s he appeared, according to my collection of programmes, all over Continental Europe, and in most of his programmes this paragraph is featured:
“Part III.
“An unexpected present at once gratuitous and laughable, composed of twelve prizes, nine lucky and three unfortunate, in which the general public will participate.”
He also continued to distribute bonbons from an inexhaustible source, probably a cornucopia, calling this trick “a new system of making sweetmeats, or Le Confiseur Moderne.”