It is almost time to dig out the Ouija board, candles, bells, trumpets and ectoplasm. Halloween is just around the corner and up the street.
Perhaps it is just us but Halloween month feels like Christmas for magicians. More clients looking for shows, more great twists on old-time favorite effects to fit the season.
We love Spiritualism. Not because we believe it — we don’t — but because others believe it even when they are told it is not real.
Our affection finds roots in the Fox Sisters’ start of the whole shebang of footsteps, knocking and trances for fun and cash. Maggie Fox’ true love, the dashing and adventurous explorer Elisha Kent Kane, who passed away whilst visiting Cuba and was forever separated from the woman he loved and his family detested.
The stories of Daniel Dunglas Home and his flying out one window and into another before a small crowd. Helen Duncan, the last person jailed under the British Witchcraft Act.
And of course, Houdini’s full-out attack on the spiritualist movement with Congressional hearings, undercover detective work and a fine book A Magician Among the Spirits.
We are decidedly against anyone who would give the pretense of spiritual powers for gain of money, friendship or love. But we are firmly in support of those who use the tricks of the spiritualist trade to entertain. Think of the difference between a Psychic Hotline at $5.00 per minute versus Rob Zabrecky’s fantastic seance in The Magic Castle.
It is amazing how some of these spiritualists never used their power to reach their departed loved ones. For all her sorrow at the loss of her dear Elisha Kane, as far as we can tell, she never sought to reach him once he passed to the other side. Yet, she continued to perform psychic and spiritualist work, then admitted it was all a fraud, and finally returned to the practice for financial support near the end of her life.
It is a special time of the year with interesting stories, wonderful scenes and great personalities like Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley.
Each year we miss the Sundance Festival and kick ourselves for it. There, wonderful films seeking distributors are offered, promoted and awarded with prizes. For instance, we first heard about La La Land through Variety’s review of the film at the Sundance Festival. We knew that if and when it was picked up by a major studio, it would be a must see.
