The Political Magician

Agent: I need another magician to do strollaround with you at the opening.
Me: How about D*** ****?
Agent: No, not him. He's too political....
Me: !

The magician referred to in the above story was one of those idealistic types that wanted to have a positive impact on the world - Can't have that can we. Though he didn't push his views in his shows, he didn't hide his views either, and he had strong views on many issues. He was a vegetarian, pro-animal rights, pro the environment, and so on. He was also a terribly nice guy, yet the agent didn't like him.

So what's it all about. We aren't just magicians, are we? We are also citizens of our worlds, with a stake in what goes on in it. We are all political animals, and if we aren't interested in who has the power and how they're using it, then we are abdicating our right to complain when it all goes wrong. So why would an agent have a problem with booking a political magician? Shouldn't we all be free to be politically active magicians?

Well, frankly, in most cases I think not. I think there has to be a separation of magician and political activist for magicians in most cases (and I'll talk about exceptions below). Why would I say such a thing? Am I calling for self-censorship? Well, yes, to a certain extent. Let me explain why.

The average professional or semi-pro does not work in their own service - they work in the service of their audiences, their clients, and the reputations of the agents who got them the booking. A magician is first and foremost an entertainer, and their audiences have the right to be entertained without having a political message shoved down their throat, no matter how positive that message may be. The client who is paying for the performance has the right to expect that you are not pursuing your own political agenda on his or her dime, especially when they may not agree with it. Agents have the right to expect that you will not possibly lose them booking venues by pushing inappropriate messages in those venues.

Another reason to not push political messages is the possibility of a backlash that could have disastrous effects on your career. Linda Ronstadt was thrown out of a casino she was performing at when she offended her audience with then unpopular anti-Bush sentiment about the war in Iraq. The Dixie Chicks suffered all sorts of backlash over similar sentiments, affecting their income as entertainers and even provoking death threats.

Now let me point out that I am not speaking about political humour used for the purpose of being topical. I am speaking about the proselytising of a given political agenda.

I said there were exceptions. What might they be?

If you have been hired by a client to represent a certain political view, then you should, in theory be OK. You should follow trade show thinking here - if you are fanatically opposed to the product, say cigarettes, then you don't take a job promoting them. Likewise, if you have difficulties promoting an anti-stem cell research position and that's what the client wants you to do, then refuse the job. No-one says you have top promote a view you don't agree with. (Just out of interest, I am personally against the promotion of cigarettes, and I am for stem cell research).

If you are doing a school show, you might be OK to to pursue certain school approved political messages - say pro-environment or anti-drugs.

If your audience is of a certain political stripe that you know is receptive to your message, you should be OK - after all, you are effectively preaching to the choir. Therefore, if you are at a Greenpeace seminar peforming, then pushing your anti-whaling point of view is going to go over well.

If you promote yourself as a certain kind of character magician, and that character is promoted as political, then that is fine. The people that book you should know what to expect. By doing this, you will likely invite bookings from some types of people and lose bookings with other types. "Oscar the Tree Loving Magician" might not get booked by a Lumberjack's party, but might attract bookings from the Friends of the Earth. And certainly a Gospel magician would not be seen as inconsistent preaching a political message that follows Christian teachings.

If you are attending a certain kind of event, such as a rally, then preaching the message might go over well, but the public nature of the event might colour the way you are perceived as a magician. If it is not your usual style of performance, the inconsistancy might might cause confusion among potential bookers.

I'm not saying that you should't be political as a citizen. What I am saying is that mixing political messages with magic should be done with caution, if it is done at all.

Now all that I've said applies more to people to whom magic is a business. What about amateurs? I think you must still consider the purpose of your performance. Is it about entertaining the people with magic, or using magic as a way to push a message. What you do really depends on your answer to that question.

Be seeing You,

Escherwolf
Lest We Forget (Anzac Day).