scholar    •    magician    •    consultant

Those who work in the arts often have to choose between watching and creating.

I watch a wide variety of shows (magic, circus, theatre and more), which is an important part of being in touch with the artistic trends and communities that inspire me. And, of course, I try to plan as carefully as possible how to allocate time to watching important performances versus creating (writing, consulting, rehearsing, performing my own stuff). Screwups happen, however, and tonight I was forced to choose between going to a show that I’d already paid for and staying home to get some important creative work done. I hemmed and hawed up to the last minute. It pained me to realize that there was no way to give the ticket away, but I was also excited to put some time into a secret project.

Then, I realized that this was a psychological trap. As soon as I tossed the ticket into the recycling bin, I knew that I’d made the right decision. Tonight, I am creating instead of watching and I couldn’t be happier.

At the end of my trip to France in November, I had the pleasure of dining with Philippe Beau, Raphaël Navarro, and Valentine Losseau (pictured above from left to right). I first heard about Navarro and Losseau’s magie nouvelle movement — a circus infused new wave of magic in France — sometime in 2012. At that time, I was writing the magic manifesto that became the conclusion of my dissertation and searching for what had already been published. I stumbled upon the wonderful April 2010 issue of Stradda magazine, which mentions that Navarro, Losseau and Clément Debailleul were working on a manifesto for their magie nouvelle movement. It was a real treat to hear about the latest developments of their work and to get an update on the development of their forthcoming publication. I was amazed to hear from Navarro that roughly 60 magie nouvelle companies are currently performing 100 different magie nouvelle shows. I highly recommend seeing one — by Yann Frisch, Etienne Saglio, CLOC and others — if you visit France.

Wayne Houchin and some weirdo

Wayne Houchin and I grew up going to the same magic shop — Grand Illusions in Sacramento, California. We aren’t officially kids anymore, but we still go to the Johnson family’s store. In early November, I had the privilege of creating a full evening of magic in which Wayne, his wife Frania, and Steve Johnson (who continues to nurture our love of magic) all performed. Here is a brief clip of Frania performing an upside-down straitjacket escape as part of that event. We’ve come a long way from being those kids in Steve’s shop. But in many ways, we never left.

I’m excited to announce that my interview with French magician and shadowgrapher Philippe Beau is now available in Genii magazine‘s December issue.

I grew up reading Genii in my hometown’s magic shop in Sacramento, California. Years later, I lived with the Domergue family in Nimes, France, to learn their beautiful language. Nowadays, I work in Montreal (French-speaking Canada). When Philippe came here to perform his one-man show last April, I interviewed him in his native language to learn about his work, the French magic scene, and the avant-garde movement known as “magie nouvelle.” There’s exciting, interdisciplinary exploration being done overseas that hasn’t received much exposure in North America and Philippe’s magic is one example of it.

Both magic and French have radically changed the way that I analyze the world. So it’s special for me to have combined the two for my first contribution to Genii.

This will come in handy for teaching magic history to French speaking students in Montréal. I found it in the boutique of le Musée de la Magie in Paris. The publishing house — Editions Georges Proust — have translated quite a few foundational texts from the magic canon.

This is the first intersection I crossed while looking for my friend’s place in Paris today. I’ll be staying with her and her boyfriend who happen to live near the core of the November attacks. It’s surreal to be talking about the geopolitical implications of all of this with Robin, while also catching up with her after 10 or 11 years. She and I had French class together in high school. We once did a co-presentation on the documentary film Microcosmos in 10th or 11th grade. A lot has changed since then. Our French is better, the stakes of everyday life are higher, and our observations of the world after living outside of the United States for many years are different. Much has remained the same too. We are still those high school selves sharing the bond of Sacramento, IB, and knowing many of each other’s friends, and family. Old friends are the ones who take you in at the drop of a hat. These are the ones with whom you rapidly share your life’s intimate updates within a few hours without even thinking about it. Who cares if it’s been a decade since you last saw one another. No formality is necessary.

This is a strange combination for me here in Paris. The warmth of friendship in the aftermath of violence. I’m experiencing this familiarity and comfort in a deeply injured city.