This New Yorker contribution by Ricky Jay on magic lanterns and phantasmagoria is a fun read. Last night I toured the Parisian catacombs, which has me thinking about Étienne-Gaspard Robert. If you like Jay’s article, then learning about Robert’s phantasmagoria shows at the end of the 1700s in Paris is a must:
Author Archives: jculpepper
The Task of the Magic Translator
I’ve completed 1,000 words of a magic translation and I’m thinking of Walter Benjamin. He says that a translation “issues from the afterlife” of the original. For him the translated work causes a “flowering” of the origin text. How wonderful it is to be part of a text’s reincarnation. Now when I sit down to […]
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Optical Illusion Sculpture
This cool new addition to Concordia University’s campus was created by Anthony Howe: The hypnotic optical illusion that it’s based on is similar to Buugeng (aka S-staff) manipulation. Multiplying the s-staffs and placing them into a flower-like configuration as a piece of motion-based urban art was smart. You can see this at the corner of […]
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Una Bennett’s Magic Touch: Aerial Rope Manipulation
MAGGOT GROOVIN’ from Una Bennett on Vimeo. Una Bennett’s act is full of surprises, personality and rockin’ rope manipulation. About two years ago, Una asked me to teach her rope magic (the traditional kind with a small rope) and explore ways to adapt magician-like manipulation techniques to her tool: that fat ‘ol corde lisse in […]
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Teaching Magic at the McCord’s Camp ABRACADABRA
It’s not the magician who teaches the children. It’s the children who teach the magician. I had a great time working with the McCord Museum’s education team to teach over 100 different mini-Montrealers how to perform magic onstage this summer as part of their ABRACADABRA camps.* This series of week-long summer camps was inspired by the ILLUSIONS exhibition. The exhibition contains beautiful […]
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Magic Broadcast Interview with Circus Artist Mick Holsbeke
I recently interviewed National Circus School graduate and clown extraordinaire Mick Holsbeke about learning Yann Frisch’s award-winning FISM act “Baltass.” Mick is performing magic in the “magie nouvelle” show Rêveurs définitifs, which you can see at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal until July 29. You can listen to the interview by visiting http://themagicbroadcast.com/ or by clicking on the photo […]
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Cirque Global review in new issue of TRIC
I just received the newest issue of Theatre Research in Canada (TRIC!) and am excited to see my review of Cirque Global in print. It’s fun to be published beside Ars Mechanica co-founder Sasha Kovacs and above a review of friend and colleague David Fancy’s creative commons projet Diversities in Actor Training. Many thanks to Kim Solga, Michelle […]
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Rêveurs Définitifs in Montreal: A Surrealistic Magic Show
Great magic gives its spectators the experience of dreaming even though they’re awake. Rêveurs Définitifs, a “magie nouvelle” show playing in Montreal until July 30, achieves this. The show is a surrealistic experience that both magicians and the general public should catch before it leaves town. Cie 14:20, directed by Raphaël Navarro and Clément Debailleul, is a […]
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“La grande fragilité des apparences”
Thibaut Rioult writes about the fragility of appearances in this article. Merci, Thibault. Quelle belle phrase:
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