Performing fabulous monsters: Re-inventing the gothic personae in bizarre magic

Nicholas Taylor; Stuart Nolan

Performing fabulous monsters: Re-inventing the gothic personae in bizarre magic

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

Bizarre magick is a form of performance magic that favours theatrical character, storytelling, overt allegory, symbolism and metaphor, and themes of the supernatural, fantastic, amazing and weird. While the form has its roots in Victorian stage magic, it realised itself as a movement in the 1970s through a counter-cultural reaction against the big boxes and card flourishes of a disenchanted, contemporary, mainstream stage magic. Bizarre magicians sought to re-enchant performance magic with the mysterious and the spiritual, (re)discovering meaning through storytelling and theatrical character.

This chapter examines the adoption of popular Gothic representations in the stage persona of a number of key figures in bizarre magick. In performance, bizarre magick presents a complex series of meta-narratives within the form, often supplanting the literary in favour of popular Gothic (re)imaginings. These, often twice-removed, transformations/translations of classic and contemporary Gothic form and fiction are considered in the context of the bizarre performer's engagement, through both performance and theoretical writing, with the fabulously monstrous.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Monstrous media/spectral subjects
Subtitle of host publication	Imaging Gothic from the nineteenth century to the present
Editors	Fred Botting, Catherine Spooner
Place of Publication	Manchester
Publisher	Manchester University Press
Chapter	10
Pages	128-142
Number of pages	15
ISBN (Electronic)	9780719098123
ISBN (Print)	9780719089770, 9781526123039
Publication status	Published - Apr 2015

Cite this

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title = "Performing fabulous monsters: Re-inventing the gothic personae in bizarre magic",

abstract = "Bizarre magick is a form of performance magic that favours theatrical character, storytelling, overt allegory, symbolism and metaphor, and themes of the supernatural, fantastic, amazing and weird. While the form has its roots in Victorian stage magic, it realised itself as a movement in the 1970s through a counter-cultural reaction against the big boxes and card flourishes of a disenchanted, contemporary, mainstream stage magic. Bizarre magicians sought to re-enchant performance magic with the mysterious and the spiritual, (re)discovering meaning through storytelling and theatrical character. This chapter examines the adoption of popular Gothic representations in the stage persona of a number of key figures in bizarre magick. In performance, bizarre magick presents a complex series of meta-narratives within the form, often supplanting the literary in favour of popular Gothic (re)imaginings. These, often twice-removed, transformations/translations of classic and contemporary Gothic form and fiction are considered in the context of the bizarre performer's engagement, through both performance and theoretical writing, with the fabulously monstrous.",

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Performing fabulous monsters: Re-inventing the gothic personae in bizarre magic. / Taylor, Nicholas; Nolan, Stuart.
Monstrous media/spectral subjects: Imaging Gothic from the nineteenth century to the present. ed. / Fred Botting; Catherine Spooner. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015. p. 128-142.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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AU - Nolan, Stuart

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N2 - Bizarre magick is a form of performance magic that favours theatrical character, storytelling, overt allegory, symbolism and metaphor, and themes of the supernatural, fantastic, amazing and weird. While the form has its roots in Victorian stage magic, it realised itself as a movement in the 1970s through a counter-cultural reaction against the big boxes and card flourishes of a disenchanted, contemporary, mainstream stage magic. Bizarre magicians sought to re-enchant performance magic with the mysterious and the spiritual, (re)discovering meaning through storytelling and theatrical character. This chapter examines the adoption of popular Gothic representations in the stage persona of a number of key figures in bizarre magick. In performance, bizarre magick presents a complex series of meta-narratives within the form, often supplanting the literary in favour of popular Gothic (re)imaginings. These, often twice-removed, transformations/translations of classic and contemporary Gothic form and fiction are considered in the context of the bizarre performer's engagement, through both performance and theoretical writing, with the fabulously monstrous.

AB - Bizarre magick is a form of performance magic that favours theatrical character, storytelling, overt allegory, symbolism and metaphor, and themes of the supernatural, fantastic, amazing and weird. While the form has its roots in Victorian stage magic, it realised itself as a movement in the 1970s through a counter-cultural reaction against the big boxes and card flourishes of a disenchanted, contemporary, mainstream stage magic. Bizarre magicians sought to re-enchant performance magic with the mysterious and the spiritual, (re)discovering meaning through storytelling and theatrical character. This chapter examines the adoption of popular Gothic representations in the stage persona of a number of key figures in bizarre magick. In performance, bizarre magick presents a complex series of meta-narratives within the form, often supplanting the literary in favour of popular Gothic (re)imaginings. These, often twice-removed, transformations/translations of classic and contemporary Gothic form and fiction are considered in the context of the bizarre performer's engagement, through both performance and theoretical writing, with the fabulously monstrous.

KW - Nineteenth century literature

KW - Literary criticism

KW - Literary studies

KW - Magic

UR - http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719098123/

UR - https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1729w2c

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A2 - Botting, Fred

A2 - Spooner, Catherine

PB - Manchester University Press

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ER -

Performing fabulous monsters: Re-inventing the gothic personae in bizarre magic

Abstract

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