circa 1910
David Devant
All Done by Kindness
Listen to the story
The Magician Conducts the Crowd
Narrated by Dominic
Devant faces an audience that appears to have been arranged like an orchestra. Magicians do enjoy being in control of things.
01
The artwork
This unusually wide design places David Devant with his back to us, arms raised before a packed audience. The viewpoint turns the spectator into a silent assistant standing just behind him. Across the lower half, his name is built from large green capitals with warm gold shadows.
The image sells personality rather than apparatus. There are no demons, pyramids, or exploding cabinets. Devant’s gesture, the sea of faces, and the wry phrase ‘All Done by Kindness’ promise a more conversational kind of command.
02
The performer
David Devant was a leading British magician and the first president of The Magic Circle. Closely associated with Egyptian Hall and later St. George’s Hall in London, he helped shape modern stage magic through character, presentation, and carefully constructed illusion.
His famous maxim, ‘All done by kindness,’ captured an approach based less on challenging the audience than inviting it into the performance. The poster makes that philosophy visible, although his outstretched arms still suggest that kindness may arrive with firm stage directions.
“All Done by Kindness”
Read the complete audio transcript
Welcome to the Magic Poster Tour at Poe’s Magic Theatre, inside the historic Lord Baltimore Hotel.
This stop features David Devant, a circa 1910 piece billed as “All Done by Kindness.”
This unusually wide design places David Devant with his back to us, arms raised before a packed audience. The viewpoint turns the spectator into a silent assistant standing just behind him. Across the lower half, his name is built from large green capitals with warm gold shadows.
The image sells personality rather than apparatus. There are no demons, pyramids, or exploding cabinets. Devant’s gesture, the sea of faces, and the wry phrase ‘All Done by Kindness’ promise a more conversational kind of command.
David Devant was a leading British magician and the first president of The Magic Circle. Closely associated with Egyptian Hall and later St. George’s Hall in London, he helped shape modern stage magic through character, presentation, and carefully constructed illusion.
His famous maxim, ‘All done by kindness,’ captured an approach based less on challenging the audience than inviting it into the performance. The poster makes that philosophy visible, although his outstretched arms still suggest that kindness may arrive with firm stage directions.