K. T. Kuma

K. T. Kuma
Born	Kinjiro Tanko Kumjaro February 04, 1884 Seoul, Korea
Died	March 27, 1963 (age 79) New York City

K. T. Kuma (b.1884-d.1963) was born Kinjiro Tanko Kumjaro in Seoul, Korea, was a circus performer and magician.

Biography

He began magic at the age of 5 as an apprentice to a Japanese magician and became a professional performing in 1892. He moved to the United States in 1904 and was known at that time as Kim Yen Soo. During World War II he claimed he was a Korean.

According to Tenkai's autobiography (Tenkai was a close friend), Kuma told him that he first joined a certain Japanese circus troupe when it visited to perform in Korea. After he married a Japanese, he left the circus to learn some magic. He then went to England where a large Japanese exhibition or some kind of world fair was held, sent by a event promoter, along with other several dozen performing artists. After that, he went to the United States. Kuma played a return engagement at the Palace Theater, New York, on August 3rd, 1950. He is credited with the invention of the Kuma Tubes, but mostly was performing a very old trick.

References

• Conjuring by James Randi
• Kuma Witnessed and Described by Ray Muse in Genii 1954 April
• Kuma and the Kuma Tubes in Genii 1955 September
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 43, No. 5, May 1963, Broken Wand, KIM YEN SOO, page 96
• Gibecière, Vol. 7, No. 2, Summer 2012, Part IX: K. T. Kuma and His Astonishing Tubes, by Mitsunobu Matsuyama, pages 13-52