Dead Skeptics Society: Thomas William Driver, aka Professor Robert Kudarz, Part 1
Bronwyn Rideout - 2nd February 2026
I do not have enough evidence to call Thomas William Driver a skeptic as we would know the term today. Still, what I could cobble together about his anti-spiritualist efforts has impressed upon me how compelling (not to mention entertaining) Driver must have been in an era when table-knocking, spirit photography, and seances were taken at face value.
Death… and an afterlife?
Death is an odd place to start this story, but it is the best point to compile what was commonly known of Kudarz’s early life. Thomas died at the age of 65 on December 5th, 1922, 3 days after his son’s wedding. While no standard obituary was published, his life was summarised in the Otago Daily Times and New Zealand Times with the following information in one form or another. He was born in 1857 in Paddington, New South Wales, but has been called a Wanganui boy in some articles. For his day job, he worked as a compositor for the Government, and for publications such as The Freelance, The New Zealand Times, The Evening Post, and an establishment in Whanganui. He learned his trade from the late John Balance, but became enamoured with conjuring in the 1870s when he first took lessons from a Professor Hazelmeyer. He would go to the grave being known as a magician, as well as an opponent of spiritualism. At the time of his death, he had two grown sons who lived in Wellington and a married daughter in Christchurch.
These briefs are mere whimpers compared to the eulogies (!) Driver received in the monthly newsletter of the Society of American Magicians (SAM) (See also their Wikipedia).
The first article about Kudarz’s passing. MUM, Vol. 12, n. 7, January 1923
Driver joined SAM in 1904 and was member number 167. He was a regular correspondent of SAM’s monthly magazine, MUM (Magic Unity Might), from 1919 to 1923 (when several articles were published posthumously). Under his Professor Kudarz persona, he published detailed histories of magicians who performed in New Zealand and Australia from the 1800s to the early 1900s. He wasn’t necessarily a modest man, as he included his own history at what would be the unexpected end of the series. However, whether this was an error with MUM’s typesetter or with Kudarz’s, some of the dates he includes do not match newspaper records. As it happened, Harry Houdini was both the President of SAM and the editor of MUM during the period of Kudarz’s writing. Looking at the correspondence that was published in MUM and elsewhere, it appears to be a relationship of mutual respect.
Kudarz, being a Houdini fanboy (but I mean, who wouldn’t), MUM, Vol. 7 n. 60 March 1918
The first instalment of Kudarz’s serial, MUM, Vol 9, n.2. July 1919
In the March 1923 issue of MUM, a W. E. White of Nelson, NZ, provided more details of Kudarz’s passing. He had been found unconscious outside his door on December 4th, and died in the hospital early the next day. White claimed that Kudarz was penniless and without friends or family near, and his description of the late magician hints at a complex life:
“I’ll mourn the loss of old ‘Tom’. His life was full of bitterness and his struggle for existence was keen. His last performances were marvellous”
White’s correspondence and confirmation of Kudarz’s death, MUM, Vol.12 n. 9, March 1923
One of the last articles written by Kudarz to be published in MUM. Vol. 13, nos. 1, 2, and 3
Driver was buried in Karori Cemetery, in an unmarked plot. Whether it was always unmarked, or if there was a wooden or other temporary mark at one point, is unknown. The timeline is vague as to when the Society of American Magicians took it under their wing. What is known is that in 2009, a descendant of Driver’s came across a record of one of his performances, and by 2010, the plaque had been refurbished, and the Hutt Valley Magician’s Society conducted a ceremonial wand-breaking. However, Driver’s year of birth is incorrect on the plaque.
Anyone who has attended one of the Friends of Karori Cemetery’s walking tours will likely be familiar with Driver’s resting place. Its remote location and contemporary story make it a perfect capstone when tip-toeing between the graves, but its modest appearance when set alongside the more extravagant crypts and graves of the early leaders and scientists of Wellington does make it easier for a solo visitor to miss.
Whether W. E. White ever provided MUM with the news articles he promised is unknown, and the last known location of Kudarz’s scrapbook is known, but it is possible for New Zealanders to view it (although not in colour). In 2006, the scrapbook was lent to the National Library for copying, along with a series of scripts on magic compiled by ‘Billy’ White for the ZR Nelson radio station. At the time of copying, the scrapbook was privately owned but had previously been in the collection of the Wellington Magician’s Society. In 2017, the scrapbook had made its way to an Illinois auction house as part of a wider auction of magical paraphernalia. The scrapbook contained clippings, letters, postcards, etc., that were signed by various magicians, including a typed note from Houdini. The catalogue (see page 92) listed an expected price between $2,500 and $3,000, and eventually sold for $4,800. Whether other items of Kudarz were included is unclear, but an autographed picture of Houdini with an inscription to Billy White was also included (see page 76 of the aforementioned catalogue). The current location of either of these objects is unknown.
Autograph from Harry Houdini to Billy White. Potter & Potter Auctions
Colour photos of some pages of the scrapbook can be viewed on bidsquare.com
A magical life
Superficially, Driver’s life can be divided into two distinct sections that we know of: Before Charles Bailey, and after Charley Bailey came to Aotearoa in 1909. In this part, we will look at what we know about Kudarz before 1909.
The first mention of Robert Kudarz that I’ve been able to locate comes from New Zealand newspapers in 1883, when the Wairarapa Daily Times announced the arrival in Wellington of Messrs Kudarz and Verno, illusionists and anti-spiritualists. This date seems to be confirmed by Kudarz himself in the posthumous publications of his serial in MUM. Soon, Kudarz was performing in shows and making his opposition to spiritualism known:
See Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVII, Issue 1393, 20 April 1883, Page 3 for better viewing
Whether Driver ever performed in front of royalty, or ever travelled outside of the southern hemisphere is anyone’s guess, but he continued to play up the Kudarz character’s connection to England throughout his early period of touring.
The Grey River Argus, November 28, 1888
Within two months of his arrival, Kudarz also issued a wager. In the New Zealand Times, Kudarz wagered £109 to any smart individual who could show any spiritual manifestation that he could not prove to be fraudulent.
New Zealand Times, May 14, 1883
D. R. Wright soon backpedalled.
The New Zealand Mail, May 19, 1883
Driver married Ellen (Nellie) Lingard in 1885. The duo started to tour together in 1886, with Nellie performing as Haidee Kudarz. Lingard was both an assistant to Kudarz, in tricks like The Veiled Lady, The Vanishing Lady, and A Sack Full of Ghosts (in which the handcuffed Nellie would be put into a sack and placed into a cabinet, before causing faces and forms to materialise from the cabinet), as well as performing her own tricks, such as Silent Thought Transmission. Sadly Kudarz does not describe this trick for the MUM readers.
There is hardly a negative review of Driver’s performance to be found, and favourable comparisons were made to that of British magicians John Nevil Maskelyne and George Alfred Cooke. Maskelyne should also be of interest to skeptics, as he founded the Occult Committee. Like the Psychical Research groups of the era, the committee was formed to investigate the supernatural and expose fraud.
In any case, one act, called Le Cocon, was described in detail in The Press in 1888. Kudarz’s trick may have been an adaptation of a Le Cocon illusion invented by the French magician Buatier de Kolta in 1883. I’m still trying to figure out how this illusion would have appeared in a pre-1900s stage, and have not been able to find a contemporary version of it being performed as described here:
“Professor Kudarz takes a piece of tape and stretches it across the stage, then hangs a piece of paper upon it, kept in place by a slight frame, and proceeds to sketch upon it in bold outlines the figure of a silkworm. There is nothing more in the way of mechanical aid, and no assistant appears upon the stage. Yet, with these simple contrivances, the magician produces one of the most astonishing tricks ever witnessed, for, at a given word the paper bursts open, displaying a cocoon of golden silk, oblong in form, and some two feet in diameter. The framework is then lowered on to a chair, round which Kudarz walks to show that no visible communication exists with any part of the stage - above, below, or behind. While the audience are wondering by what possible metamorphosis the change has been wrought, the cocoon becomes animated, and, slowly opening, discloses the shoulders and head of Mdlle. Kudarz, gracefully attired to imitate the appearance of a butterfly. All this is done in full view of the audience and under a strong light”
They toured Australia and New Zealand between 1888 and the 1890s. Their young daughter, Ida (who is alternately named in advertisements and reviews as Ida Louise Maude Driver or Ida Tansie Kudarz) started to perform alongside her parents in 1890, at the age of 4. One trick, called Hindo [sic] Basket Trick (also known as the Indian Sword basket) is a centuries-old trick that is still performed today, but it demonstrates how Ida, like many children of vaudeville families of the time, was part of the family business:
“Kudarz produced a common-sized, empty clothes basket and allowed the audience to examine it. He carried it back on to the stage and placed it on a stool near Madir Sihib. The magician then introduced to the audience his pretty little daughter Ida, and asked her if she wished to go into the basket. She replied that she had no objection and that she was not afraid of Madir Sahib. Madir at this seized the child, and placed her in the basket, closing the lid and tying it t with a rope. He then produced an ugly looking sword, and to the horror of Kudarz and the audience, plunged it through and through the basket. The screams and shrieks of the child as the blade entered the basket were startling, and when Kudarz expostulated with Madir Sahib, the Indian handed him the basket. Kudarz took the basket and carried it into the audience. Two gentlemen untied the basket. It was empty. The magician demanded of Madir that he produce his daughter, when suddenly, “Here I am, papa,” was heard from the back part of the audience, and little Ida ran down the centre aisle up to the stage and into her father’s arms unhurt and laughing heartily.”
Children are often used in the performance of this trick, but depending on the size of the basket, young adults can be used as seen in the recorded performance below.
According to Wikipedia, the secret to this trick was revealed by Samri Baldwin in 1895. Normally, the assistants would coil themselves around the sides of the basket, with the sword inserted into prearranged slots. If the child reappeared in the audience, it would not be the child in the basket, but a different child altogether. The second child seen in this act is unlikely to be Kudarz’s other children, as Harry Washington Kudarz would have just been about one year old, and their second son, Leslie William Le Roy, would not be born until a decade later.
Indian basket trick, Wikipedia
By 1899, Driver and his wife were performing under their real names, while their daughter, Ida, increasingly appeared in advertisements as her father’s main assistant - likely because Nellie was caring for a young son and, soon after, a newborn.
Reports of Driver’s abilities were reported internationally in major trade publications of the era, like Sphinx and Mahatma. Besides MUM, Driver frequently contributed articles about New Zealand and Australia in Stanyon’s Magic Magazine and Billboard. In 1902, the family returned to New Zealand to lead a more private life. Aside from a couple of letters to the editor and starting his own School of Magic (first at 137 Taranaki Street, Wellington in 1905, and then moving to 279 Taranaki Street by 1913), he appears to have actually taken a break from touring. While Driver was presenting himself as anti-spiritualist in the early days of his magical career, there is little information about how he fought spiritualism besides his early wager with D. R. Wright. Most of the combative things I could find were occasional articles explaining common magic tricks, but there is a clipping in W. G. Alma’s files from 1904:
Image courtesy of the W. G. Alma Conjuring Collection, State Library Victoria
Image courtesy of the W. G. Alma Conjuring Collection, State Library Victoria
It wasn’t until a visit by Australian medium Charles Bailey, in 1909, that Driver was propelled out of retirement and onto the main stage once again.
In a fortnight, I’ll look at whether Kudarz really did chase Bailey out of New Zealand and what other spats he got into.