The Magician – enquiring about practice #1
A key element of enquiry for me when working practically in bizarre magick was my role in the creation of…
Séance, Magicians, and the Arms Race of Things
Historically, the apparent ability to contact spirits has provided a wealth of opportunities for deception by performers. Magicians have had…
Séance: A View through the Veil
*The film is now available to watch on the Media of Mediumship YouTube channel* An aptitude for deception is all…
More on Magic Objects
“Objects have histories. Some have souls” (Chelman, 1993, p. 65) In many ways, performance magic is about the props, the…
Abandoned Magic #1
I read something this week that got me thinking again about the photographs I took last summer. The series entitled…
The Magic Object
I’m very interested in the notion of the (performance) magic(al) object. Aileen Robinson (2014) in ‘“All Transparent”: Pepper’s Ghost, Plate…
Séance Technologies – The Pendulum
I find it useful to think of performance magic props as a technology. In theatre we often talk about theatre…
Insider or Outsider?
The challenge I have as an academic is that I am both inside and outside of my research. I cannot…
Writing about Magic
The notion of what constitutes the role of the trick in magic performance raises a number of questions, two of…
Hiding the Elephant in the Room – Performance Magic and Practice Research
A transcription of a research seminar delivered 31/03/21 The seminar itself is now live: Thank you for inviting me to…
Space to Practice – whatever that means.
In a few weeks time I shall be presenting on practice research as part of the Spring 2021 LINES OF…