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News.Scotsman.com
Michelle McGinty
WHETHER it’s sleight of hand, extreme acts of endeavour or extraordinary mind reading, magic is making a massive comeback as a new generation learn the tricks of the trade.
Gone are the days of traditional magicians, bedecked in a dickie bow and brandishing a pack of cards - but turn the television on these days and you are likely to come across the new breed of magicians and psychics who have captured the public imagination. And combine that with the wizardry of marketing attached to phenomena such as Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it seems there is no getting away from mystery and magic.
Magicians and mindreaders in Scotland say they are more in demand than ever thanks to the market leaders in the business these days - television stars such as Derren Brown and David Blaine, as well as fictional heroes such as Harry and Buffy. Even television legend Paul Daniels has been reborn, performing two shows a day throughout the Edinburgh Fringe.
But it is the young guys who are taking magic tricks and mental powers to a new level of popularity. David Blaine, for instance, has taken the powers of mind and magic to an extreme level in terms of mass media exposure.
People all around the world have watched his daring feats, which have included being sealed in a block of ice for three days, an event which left him temporarily injured and shocked.
He also wowed crowds last year when he stood on a 109ft pole in Manhattan no more than 22 inches wide for two days and two nights, with no food, water or sleep.
Meanwhile, Derren Brown is planning to contest for the claim of hosting the ultimate television event in October by planning a game of Russian Roulette live on air, and he is currently asking people interested in taking part to contact him via his website.
For Edinburgh psychic entertainer, Drew McAdam, it is people such as Blaine and Brown who have brought new popularity to magic. "This isn’t conjuring or sleight of hand that they are doing but things which young people want to watch," he says. "Derren Brown uses techniques like reading body language which is what I do. It’s not magic as such because there’s no trick and I’m quite happy to explain how I do things. It is fascinating to a new audience."
Edinburgh has an illustrious history when it comes to magic down the ages. Houdini packed theatres in the city at the beginning of the 20th century, and in 1911 another famous magician, The Great Lafeyette, died in a fire at the Empire, where the Festival Theatre now stands. The late Charles Cameron was the founder member of the active Edinburgh Magic Circle and known around the world for his magic skills.
East Lothian’s Paul Brignall, magical entertainer and guru to many magicians, is now setting up the Scottish Magic Archive to preserve these names for aspiring magicians to look up to. He says: "There are an awful lot of young people getting into magic now. They are attracted by Blaine and David Copperfield and so on but they don’t often know a lot about the history of what they’re doing and where it all comes from."
Brignall does a lot of corporate entertaining, something that is also opening up new fields of work for magicians. In particular he works for BMW, entertaining audiences at car shows and other corporate events. "This is a huge thing in London and around Europe and has come from the United States where it was first developed as an idea. And it’s now becoming more popular in Scotland."
One sign that Scotland has gone magic-mad is the size of an event taking place at Falkland Palace in Fife this weekend. The Magic Circle and others will gather in their hundreds to see the likes of Ali Bongo - past president of the circle of palace magicians - and Jay Scott-Berry, the highly-acclaimed illusionist. Paul Dabek, the young magician of the year 2003, will also be performing at the event, which is one of the largest gatherings of magicians in the world.
More than 1800 people from all over the world will be descending on the palace to do more than watch a man pull a rabbit out a hat.
This year’s Fringe has also seen a notable increase in the number of magic and psychic performers. American Marc Salem - dubbed the king of mindreaders - has been performing to sell-out crowds.
McAdam, for whom Salem is a mentor, says: "There has been a big movement towards this from people in Edinburgh this year, far more than other years. You used to get a few magicians in smaller venues but this year has been different, principally because of Marc Salem being here."
Edinburgh magician Gary James believes the recent revival is almost solely down to the Harry Potter phenomenon. He says: "I was with JK Rowling on her book launch just recently playing the wizard while she was in Waterstone’s book shop and we chatted about this. She really is responsible for putting magic back on the map. I get calls all the time asking for Harry Potter-themed tricks. And David Blaine is also responsible for a lot of it in terms of the adults. Corporate clients are looking for the kind of close-up tricks he can do."
But whoever it is putting a bit of magic back into people’s lives it certainly seems to be working. Whether it’s just clever marketing or fascinating powers of the mind, the power of magic is definitely more than an illusion. | |
