Magic News

Melvin the Angry Magician

melvin_the_angry_magician

There is a classic knock-knock joke that includes the name
Melvin.  In that joke, the exchange goes
as de rigueur for a knock-knock joke.

Knock-knock

Who's there? 

At this point the joke takes on a new variation on the often
formulaic pattern so familiar to us all. 
The knock-knocker responds to the interrogatory "Who's there?"
with a rather full description, "Melvin, the Rude Interrupting Cow."

As the putative host of the knock-knocker's greeting begins
to respond in the time-honored manner, "Melvin the Rude . . ." the
knock-knocker interrupts the question by saying "Moo" and thereby
validates his descriptive moniker by being both rude and interrupting. 

We thought maybe the new play "Melvin the Angry
Magician" was a variation on this variation. 

The play is billed as "experimental" and
"thought-provoking" so it would make sense that it could be as short
as a knock-knock joke. 

Perhaps something along the lines of:

Knock-knock

Who's there?

Melvin the Angry Magician.

Melvin the Angry . . .

Poof! You're a toad!

That would be both experimental and thought-provoking but
maybe too short.  It could be in the form
of a musical and the parts could be sung and perhaps Melvin could wear a
half-mask like the Phantom of the Opera
or a cat costume like the stars of the Broadway smash hit Cats or like that
worn by either Ertha Kitt or Alicia Silverstone in their roles as The Cat Woman
in the ABC Television series or the recent feature film respectively.

But we learned the play has three characters rather than
two.  This seemed to rule out the
knock-knock scenario unless perhaps one of the characters played the role of a
modern-day Greek Chorus providing both insight and foreshadowing for the
audience.

Then we learned that the two characters other than Melvin
the Angry Magician were Harvey the White Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts. 

Now, we're thinking a whole Alice in Wonderland type of deal.  Lewis Carol loved riddles and variations on
riddles or jokes.  This started to make
sense.  Both the White Rabbit and the
Queen of Hearts are featured in Alice in Wonderland and as in Melvin the Angry
Magician, they present contrary points of view for the benefit of the
bewildered but logical Alice.

Rather than guessing, we decided to read a review of this
new play to learn about its plot and the characters.

Unlike our first common-law wife, no one wears a cat-suit or
half-mask.  However, like our first
common-law wife's twin sister, there is a character who wears all black and who
represents the bleak, dark, depressing future awaiting the magician.

The very fine writer/director Scott Feiner applies both
talents in the Broom Street Theater's production.  The plot "follows the frustrations of an
aging illusionist who becomes disillusioned as he attempts to recapture some of
his old magic and relevance."

Melvin is an angry magician because he's "devoted (his)
life to entertaining people in person, not on TV or the internet." He
tells the audience "Magic is all about challenging people's perceptions,
but I have to get their attention first. And I don't know how to do that
anymore."

Brother, we heard that. 

We used to go door-to-door offering to do tricks but times
have changed or so says a district court judge we were just before.

The play sounds like a very interesting study of what it is
like to become an old magician who can't find work.  But we're guessing the author intended it to
apply to a broader context.  Perhaps it
doesn't just address the problems of old magicians.  It may also apply to mimes, balloon
sculptors, puppeteers, and jugglers.  The
play's notes don't say that but we're just guessing.  If it was meant to apply only to old,
delusional magicians, it would have limited commercial appeal, like any movie
starring Adam Sandler or that guy that was going to marry Jennifer Lopez until
their movie tanked.

We'd love to see Jennifer Lopez take on the role of Cat
Woman, by the way.

The Queen of Hearts urges Melvin the Angry Magician to
follow his anger.  We thought maybe that
would mean he'd start doing a knock-off of the Amazing Johnathan or David
Blaine.  No.  Not that kind of anger.

He leaves magic and starts roaming the streets "trying
to catch people's attention by yelling about what makes him angry."

So now we're thinking he represents many of the magic
bulletin-board posters.  These magicians
are known for their two distinct qualities: contempt for anyone who isn't them;
and, poor grammatical and spelling skills.

But we were wrong again. 
Melvin the Angry Magician becomes famous to people outside of the small,
cocoon-like world of magic bulletin boards. 
His anger gets him known by real people, the public.  Unfortunately, he is not known as Melvin the
Angry Magician but Melvin the Angry Guy. 

He loses his identity as a magician by following his anger.

Joseph Lutz is a fine actor and apparently does a stunning
job with the Melvin character.  The
Capitol Times observes Mr. Lutz:

convincingly portrayed the anger, frustration and
desperation of a sinking performer, fluctuating between manic public tirades,
private introspection and dying dreams. During his angry scenes, Lutz tended to
overwhelm the small performing space, and his volume became jarring at times.
His strongest moments were in the poetic and pointed monologues that brought a
real-world sense of gravity to his fictional plight.

The paper confirms our speculation that maybe the author
intended the message to reach an audience greater than just old magicians who
think animals and playing cards are talking to them.  The critic suggests the play is bemoaning the
unfortunate state of modern audiences where an artist's relevance is determined
by the attention he draws.

The true test, says the author Mr. Feiner is not how much
attention is momentarily drawn to a message but how the message changes the
ones that hear it.

Of course, someone has to listen to the message to begin
with.  As we say to our clients at
Quinlan's Chair Massage located at the Arby's , "that there is the rub,
Bub."

Mr. Feiner is having success apparently in both attracting
audiences and getting his message across. 
Congratulations to him, the cast and crew responsible for this
production. 

It takes a lot of guts to put on a show that challenges the
audience to think. 

We don't have that kind of innards.  We just tell knock-knock jokes.

Check out the Capitol Times review of Melvin
the Angry Magician here.


melvin_the_angry_magician

There is a classic knock-knock joke that includes the name
Melvin.  In that joke, the exchange goes
as de rigueur for a knock-knock joke.

Knock-knock

Who's there? 

At this point the joke takes on a new variation on the often
formulaic pattern so familiar to us all. 
The knock-knocker responds to the interrogatory "Who's there?"
with a rather full description, "Melvin, the Rude Interrupting Cow."

As the putative host of the knock-knocker's greeting begins
to respond in the time-honored manner, "Melvin the Rude . . ." the
knock-knocker interrupts the question by saying "Moo" and thereby
validates his descriptive moniker by being both rude and interrupting. 

We thought maybe the new play "Melvin the Angry
Magician" was a variation on this variation. 

The play is billed as "experimental" and
"thought-provoking" so it would make sense that it could be as short
as a knock-knock joke. 

Perhaps something along the lines of:

Knock-knock

Who's there?

Melvin the Angry Magician.

Melvin the Angry . . .

Poof! You're a toad!

That would be both experimental and thought-provoking but
maybe too short.  It could be in the form
of a musical and the parts could be sung and perhaps Melvin could wear a
half-mask like the Phantom of the Opera
or a cat costume like the stars of the Broadway smash hit Cats or like that
worn by either Ertha Kitt or Alicia Silverstone in their roles as The Cat Woman
in the ABC Television series or the recent feature film respectively.

But we learned the play has three characters rather than
two.  This seemed to rule out the
knock-knock scenario unless perhaps one of the characters played the role of a
modern-day Greek Chorus providing both insight and foreshadowing for the
audience.

Then we learned that the two characters other than Melvin
the Angry Magician were Harvey the White Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts. 

Now, we're thinking a whole Alice in Wonderland type of deal.  Lewis Carol loved riddles and variations on
riddles or jokes.  This started to make
sense.  Both the White Rabbit and the
Queen of Hearts are featured in Alice in Wonderland and as in Melvin the Angry
Magician, they present contrary points of view for the benefit of the
bewildered but logical Alice.

Rather than guessing, we decided to read a review of this
new play to learn about its plot and the characters.

Unlike our first common-law wife, no one wears a cat-suit or
half-mask.  However, like our first
common-law wife's twin sister, there is a character who wears all black and who
represents the bleak, dark, depressing future awaiting the magician.

The very fine writer/director Scott Feiner applies both
talents in the Broom Street Theater's production.  The plot "follows the frustrations of an
aging illusionist who becomes disillusioned as he attempts to recapture some of
his old magic and relevance."

Melvin is an angry magician because he's "devoted (his)
life to entertaining people in person, not on TV or the internet." He
tells the audience "Magic is all about challenging people's perceptions,
but I have to get their attention first. And I don't know how to do that
anymore."

Brother, we heard that. 

We used to go door-to-door offering to do tricks but times
have changed or so says a district court judge we were just before.

The play sounds like a very interesting study of what it is
like to become an old magician who can't find work.  But we're guessing the author intended it to
apply to a broader context.  Perhaps it
doesn't just address the problems of old magicians.  It may also apply to mimes, balloon
sculptors, puppeteers, and jugglers.  The
play's notes don't say that but we're just guessing.  If it was meant to apply only to old,
delusional magicians, it would have limited commercial appeal, like any movie
starring Adam Sandler or that guy that was going to marry Jennifer Lopez until
their movie tanked.

We'd love to see Jennifer Lopez take on the role of Cat
Woman, by the way.

The Queen of Hearts urges Melvin the Angry Magician to
follow his anger.  We thought maybe that
would mean he'd start doing a knock-off of the Amazing Johnathan or David
Blaine.  No.  Not that kind of anger.

He leaves magic and starts roaming the streets "trying
to catch people's attention by yelling about what makes him angry."

So now we're thinking he represents many of the magic
bulletin-board posters.  These magicians
are known for their two distinct qualities: contempt for anyone who isn't them;
and, poor grammatical and spelling skills.

But we were wrong again. 
Melvin the Angry Magician becomes famous to people outside of the small,
cocoon-like world of magic bulletin boards. 
His anger gets him known by real people, the public.  Unfortunately, he is not known as Melvin the
Angry Magician but Melvin the Angry Guy. 

He loses his identity as a magician by following his anger.

Joseph Lutz is a fine actor and apparently does a stunning
job with the Melvin character.  The
Capitol Times observes Mr. Lutz:

convincingly portrayed the anger, frustration and
desperation of a sinking performer, fluctuating between manic public tirades,
private introspection and dying dreams. During his angry scenes, Lutz tended to
overwhelm the small performing space, and his volume became jarring at times.
His strongest moments were in the poetic and pointed monologues that brought a
real-world sense of gravity to his fictional plight.

The paper confirms our speculation that maybe the author
intended the message to reach an audience greater than just old magicians who
think animals and playing cards are talking to them.  The critic suggests the play is bemoaning the
unfortunate state of modern audiences where an artist's relevance is determined
by the attention he draws.

The true test, says the author Mr. Feiner is not how much
attention is momentarily drawn to a message but how the message changes the
ones that hear it.

Of course, someone has to listen to the message to begin
with.  As we say to our clients at
Quinlan's Chair Massage located at the Arby's , "that there is the rub,
Bub."

Mr. Feiner is having success apparently in both attracting
audiences and getting his message across. 
Congratulations to him, the cast and crew responsible for this
production. 

It takes a lot of guts to put on a show that challenges the
audience to think. 

We don't have that kind of innards.  We just tell knock-knock jokes.

Check out the Capitol Times review of Melvin
the Angry Magician here.

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