[Presse] Journal of Performance Magic

[Thibaut RIOULT (Azoth)]

Bonjour à tous,

Pour ceux que la recherche (académique) magique intéresse, le premier numéro du Journal of Performance Magic est paru

http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/journal/jpm/

bravo aux universitaires américains pour leur ouverture

[Christian CHELMAN]

Amusant, Todd Landman me classe dans la catégorie Theatrical Mentalism plutôt que Bizarre Magic.

Among mystery entertainers, there is a clear difference between the ‘theatrical

mentalists’ and the bizarrists. Theatrical mentalists typically locate their

performances through an appeal to history and historical objects, or what Christian

Chelman, calls ‘Hauntiques’. Chelman is a magician and ‘curator’ who has

assembled a collection of magical objects in his Brussels-based Surnateum,29 where

visitors are treated to a dazzling display of artefacts, divination tools, objects, and

books that suggest the possibility of magic through various manifestations. Within

his collection is the only genuine vampire hunting kit, necromantic skull, shaman

outfits, voodoo implements, casting bones from Mongolia, and even an amulet

found on a Neanderthal, which Chelman proudly asserts is the world’s oldest

magical object. Theatrical mentalists engage in storytelling and an appeal to the

injustices in history, the horror of Victorian institutions, the research into psychic

phenomena, among other frames. They allow their participants to engage with

historical artefacts and produce inexplicable effects ranging from divining personal

information, past life regression, and pendulum experiments to communing with

spirits through various quasi-scientific instruments, such as Edison spirit lights.30

In contrast, bizarre magicians make much more explicit reference to the occult.

Drawing on a rich tradition of real magic, the mystery school, hermetic philosophy,

Satanism, demonic and angelic conjuration, and organised occult societies, bizarrists

engage in storytelling performances that often involve themes of raising (or

communicating with) the dead, making pacts with the devil, cheating death (gallows

are popular), and meeting one’s fate at the day of judgement. Bizarrists use historical

objects and artefacts, but unlike theatrical mentalists also perform ‘magical’ effects

(transpositions, transformations, penetrations, fire, potions, etc.) that are used to

illustrate large narratives about fate, luck, divine intervention and the use of curses.

[Thibaut RIOULT (Azoth)]

Amusant, Todd Landman me classe dans la catégorie Theatrical Mentalism plutôt que Bizarre Magic.

Among mystery entertainers, there is a clear difference between the ‘theatrical

mentalists’ and the bizarrists. Theatrical mentalists typically locate their

performances through an appeal to history and historical objects, or what Christian

Chelman, calls ‘Hauntiques’. Chelman is a magician and ‘curator’ who has

assembled a collection of magical objects in his Brussels-based Surnateum,29 where

visitors are treated to a dazzling display of artefacts, divination tools, objects, and

books that suggest the possibility of magic through various manifestations. Within

his collection is the only genuine vampire hunting kit, necromantic skull, shaman

outfits, voodoo implements, casting bones from Mongolia, and even an amulet

found on a Neanderthal, which Chelman proudly asserts is the world’s oldest

magical object. Theatrical mentalists engage in storytelling and an appeal to the

injustices in history, the horror of Victorian institutions, the research into psychic

phenomena, among other frames. They allow their participants to engage with

historical artefacts and produce inexplicable effects ranging from divining personal

information, past life regression, and pendulum experiments to communing with

spirits through various quasi-scientific instruments, such as Edison spirit lights.30

In contrast, bizarre magicians make much more explicit reference to the occult.

Drawing on a rich tradition of real magic, the mystery school, hermetic philosophy,

Satanism, demonic and angelic conjuration, and organised occult societies, bizarrists

engage in storytelling performances that often involve themes of raising (or

communicating with) the dead, making pacts with the devil, cheating death (gallows

are popular), and meeting one’s fate at the day of judgement. Bizarrists use historical

objects and artefacts, but unlike theatrical mentalists also perform ‘magical’ effects

(transpositions, transformations, penetrations, fire, potions, etc.) that are used to

illustrate large narratives about fate, luck, divine intervention and the use of curses.

J'avoue avoir aussi un peu de mal avec cette double classification... (et surtout l'opposition d'un mentalisme théâtrale avec la magie bizarre ?)

la dénomination "mentalist" semble d'ailleurs trop restreinte pour désigner le travail de CC (illusionnisme fantastique apparait comme le plus adéquat, même si ça ne colle pas non plus pour une grande partie de son travail...)

et à mon humble avis, mélanger les thèmes (historique, occulte) avec les genres (magie contée, magie théâtralisée, magie scénarisée, mentalisme, x-mentalisme, illusionnisme fantastique, etc.) est une mauvaise idée et n'aide pas à clarifier les choses...

enfin, faudrait il un jour parvenir à définir ce qu'on appelle "bizarre magick", mais c'est autre (grand) débat