Performing Dark Arts

Michael Mangan

Description

From David Blaine’s death-defying feats of will to Harry Potter’s boarding-school victories against evil forces, the darker side of magic and its performance clearly strikes a cultural nerve. The conjuror’s act of bringing the impossible into being and summoning both the grotesque and marvelous with a sudden gesture challenges spectators’ assumptions of reality and fantasy. Performing Dark Arts explores the paradox of the conjuror and the broader cultural implications of magic’s assault on human perception.

Michael Mangan illuminates the history of the conjuring arts and tests the boundaries of theatrical scholarship by analyzing magic acts alongside more conventional dramatic forms. This bracingly original volume discusses the performances of individual magicians and public reception of their acts and locates the mysterious cultural significance of the dark arts and those who practice them. Shining a light on the grey area between acting and being, perception and reality, Performing Dark Arts is a book that will open your mind to the possibilities of magic.

 

“If you want to learn about the one trick that all good conjurers have up their sleeve, the oldest in the book—here it is, rehearsed across the centuries. It is to make sure that whichever cup the audience looks under—mere chicanery or actual sorcery—the ball is not there.”—Mark Stafford, Times (UK)

 

“Conjurors as performers have always had a special niche in exploiting the marvelous or the uncanny and trading upon our hope or fantasy that some real magic may be at work. Mangan’s delightful book shows that they will always be able to do so.”—Rob Hardy, Commercial Dispatch

 

“This is an erudite book which wears its scholarship lightly and is a pleasure to read. Complex theoretical frameworks are introduced in ways that will make them accessible to the general reader, and the book's argument opens up new implications and applications for the study of magic as performance. . . . I was genuinely surprised and delighted with many of Mangan's observations.”—Roberta Mock, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sujets

• Popular Culture
• Performing Arts
• Magic: el encuentro
• Body (disambiguation)
• Performance art
• Spirituality
• Dance
• Magick
• Magic
• ART

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 01 août 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781841509853
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Performing฀Dark฀Arts:฀ A฀Cultural฀History฀of฀Conjuring By฀Michael฀Mangan

Magic฀and฀conjuring฀inhabit฀the฀boundaries฀and฀the฀ borderlands฀of฀performance.฀The฀conjuror’s฀act฀of฀ demonstrating฀the฀apparently฀impossible,฀the฀uncanny,฀ the฀marvellous,฀or฀the฀grotesque฀challenges฀the฀ spectator’s฀sense฀of฀reality.

It฀brings฀him฀or฀her฀up฀against฀their฀own฀assumptions฀ about฀how฀the฀world฀works;฀at฀its฀most฀extreme,฀it฀asks฀ the฀spectator฀to฀re-evaluate฀his฀or฀her฀sense฀of฀the฀limits฀ of฀the฀human.฀rtsrk฀Ag฀DamrnireofPipsl฀oran฀e฀xn฀ofatio฀t฀eh paradox฀of฀the฀conjuror,฀the฀actor฀who฀pretends฀to฀be฀a฀ magician.฀It฀aims฀to฀illuminate฀the฀history฀of฀conjuring฀by฀ examining฀it฀in฀the฀context฀of฀performance฀studies,฀and฀to฀ throw฀light฀on฀aspects฀of฀performance฀studies฀by฀testing฀ them฀against฀the฀art฀of฀conjuring.฀The฀book฀examines฀not฀ only฀the฀performances฀of฀individual฀magicians฀from฀Dedi to฀David฀Blaine,฀but฀also฀the฀broader฀cultural฀contexts฀ in฀which฀their฀performances฀were฀received,฀and฀the฀ meanings฀which฀they฀have฀attracted.

‘This฀is฀an฀erudite฀book฀which฀wears฀its฀scholarshi p฀lightly฀and฀is฀a฀ pleasure฀to฀read ฀.Complex฀theoretical฀frameworks฀ar e฀introduced฀in฀ways฀ that฀will฀make฀them฀accessible฀to฀the฀general฀reade r,฀and฀the฀book’s฀ argument฀opens฀up฀new฀implications฀and฀applications ฀for฀the฀study฀of฀magic฀ as฀performance...’฀฀–฀ Roberta฀Mock,฀Department฀of฀Theatre฀and Performance,฀University฀of฀Plymouth

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Michael฀Mangan฀holds฀the฀ Chair฀in฀Drama฀at฀Exeter฀ University.฀His฀main฀research฀ interests฀lie฀in฀theatre฀and฀ society฀–฀more฀specifically,฀ he฀has฀published฀in฀the฀ subjects฀of฀theatre฀and฀gender,฀ Shakespeare฀and฀Renaissance theatre,฀the฀cultural฀history฀ of฀popular฀performance,฀ and฀contemporary฀British฀ theatre.฀He฀has฀also฀worked฀ as฀a฀playwright,฀a฀director,฀a฀ literary฀manager,฀a฀dramaturg฀ and฀an฀actor.

ISBN 978-1-84150-149-9

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Performing Dark Arts A Cultural History of Conjuring

Performing Dark Arts A Cultural History of Conjuring

Michael Mangan

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First Published in the UK in 2007 by Intellect Books, PO Box 862, Bristol BS99 1DE, UK First Published in the USA in 2007 by Intellect Books, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA Copyright © 2007 Intellect All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781 841501499 /ISBN 9781841509853 /Ele ctr onic ISSN 17533058

Series: Theatre and Consciousness Series editor: Daniel MeyerDinkgräfe Already published in the series: Daniel MeyerDinkgräfe,Theatre and Consciousness: Explanatory Scope and Future Potential(2005)

Cover Design: Gabriel Solomons Copy Editor: Holly Spradling Typesetting: Planman Technologies

Printed and bound by HSW Print, UK.

Contents

Preface and acknowledgements

Introduction:

magic and performance

Chapter One Binaries: early attitudes to conjuring

Chapter Two ‘The evil Spirit has a hand in the Tricks of these Jugglers’: conjuring and Christian orthodoxy

Chapter Three ‘Fire and faggot to burn the witch’? Conjuring between belief and unbelief in early modern England

Chapter Four On the margins: criminals and fraudsters Chapter Five On the boundaries of the human Chapter Six Acting and not-acting: Robert-Houdin Chapter Seven Before your very eyes: life, death and liveness Chapter Eight Narrative ambiguity and contested meanings: interpreting Harry Houdini Chapter Nine Mediums and the media Chapter Ten Magic, media and postmodernism

Endnotes Bibliography

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Preface and acknowledgements

This project started in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, with a suggestion from my editor, Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe. It ended at the University of Exeter, not only with this book but also with the accompanying playThe Inner Child’s Compendium of Magic (available on DVD from the Arts Documentation Unit, Exeter EX4 6JA UK). On the way it passed through De Montfort University, Leicester. In all of these places, and elsewhere, I have received invaluable help from friends and colleagues. Some have lent me books, videos and other magical material. Others have pointed me in directions that I would not otherwise have travelled in. Still others have offered thoughts, criticism, suggestions, feedback and many other kinds of professional and personal support. I had ventured into the field of magic history a few years before, and a section of Chapter Three appeared, in a much earlier version, inPerformance Research 1: 3 (1996). This has now been significantly changed and updated. A section of Chapter Eight was first given as a keynote paper at the conferenceWhat A Man’s Gotta Do? Masculinities On Stage, UNE @ Shafston, Brisbane (April 2004). That original paper is to be included in a forthcoming volume of the same name, based on the conference proceedings and edited by Adrian Kiernander. I have received valuable advice and encouragement from the editors of both these publications. Sections of the book have also been delivered at research seminars and public talks in Exeter and Bristol. Of the individuals who have helped me in various ways, I am particularly grateful to Roland Clare for being in at the start; to Zara and Rachael for their unfailing support; to Sarah Dadswell for the Magic Circle deck of cards and for her insightful thoughts on Indian conjurors; to Gabriella Giannachi, Lesley Wade, Tess Buckland, Jon Primrose, Mike Wilson for pointing out to me and/or lending me books and other resources; to David Ian Rabey for suggestions about Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell; to Derren Brown for an impromptu interview in a school corridor; to John and Patrick Mangan for the trip to the site of Houdini’s plane flight at Digger’s Rest; to Roberta Mock for her insightful criticisms; and to Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe for his careful and encouraging editorial work. I am grateful, too, to various groups of people who have made the experience of working on the history of magic easier, richer and more pleasurable: to those members of the production teams with whom I worked on the BBC’s six-part History of Magicseries, who astounded and inspired me with their command of a complex field of research; to the original cast ofThe Inner Child’s Compendium of Magic: Jane Milling, Chris McCullough, Bella Merlin, James McLaughlin, Steve Cockett, Lucy Mitchell and Lizzie Pennington, and, in particular, Sarah Goldingay, who designed and produced the show and was a

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PERFORMING DARK ARTS

continual source of stimulating ideas. Thanks, too, to the Drama Research Committee of Exeter University and the Theatre, Film and Television Studies Department at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, both of whom contributed to the research costs; to the staff and curators of the various libraries and collections which I have consulted – in particular those at the British Library, Cambridge University Library, the National Library of Wales, Exeter University Library, the Harry Price Collection and the Bill Douglas Collection. I owe a special debt to José Antonio Gonzalez, aka Marko, the Panamanian magician whom I have never met but whose online archive,The Learned Pig Project, is an essential resource for all those interested in the history and practice of magic.

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Introduction:

magic and performance

The first thing a student of magic learns is that there are booksaboutmagic and books of magic…Magicians, as we know from Jonathan Strange’s maxim, will quarrel about any thing, and many years and much learning has been applied to the vexed question of whether such and such a volume qualifies as a book of magic. But most laymen find they are served well enough by this simple rule: books written before magic ended in England are books of magic, books written later are books about magic. The principle, from which the layman’s rule of thumb derives, is that a book of magic should be written by a practising magician, rather than a theoretical magician or a historian of magic. 1 Susannah Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Any good trick is accomplished by our imagination. Any great trick involves our own beliefs about the meaning of life. 2 Burger and Neale

Sometimes such are called conjurers …  Most words change their meanings over time, but some are particularly slippery and hard to pin down. This is not always a bad thing. On the contrary, it may be that these are the words that point us towards areas where something important is happening on a cultural level. Words which have the most complex, or even contradictory nuances and connotations, are, perhaps, most likely to be those 3 words which refer to things that a culture deems important. The words with which this study is centrally concerned – ‘conjuror’, ‘magic’ and ‘magician’ – belong to this group. We use them today in everyday speech to refer to a performer of illusions on the stage or on the street, but in other contexts they mean a practitioner of darker arts. Broadly speaking, before the eighteenth century the terms ‘magician’ and ‘conjuror’ (like the words ‘wizard’ and ‘warlock’ and their female counterpart ‘witch’) were reserved for those who practised, or were seen to practise, the black arts, while terms such as ‘juggling’ and ‘legerdemain’ referred to the entertainer. As one early writer on magic, conjuring, juggling and witchcraft put it: ‘Sometimes such are called conjurers… Sometimes jugglers are called witches. Sometimes also they are called 4 sorcerers’. In current use, both ‘conjuror’ (or ‘conjurer’) and ‘magician’ are used to refer to one who performs tricks and sleights in order to entertain. American usage tends to prefer ‘magician’; British English tends towards 5 ‘conjuror’ – but both are acceptable. The degree of semantic complexity, and even confusion, which we find in these terms is significant, not least because it reminds us that the conjuror constantly confronts us with questions of our own beliefs about the world.

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