Professionally Speaking » The Prestige: speaking magic

The Prestige This book intrigued me such that I recently bought a copy at SFO for the long flight back to the UK. It’s just been released as a second-rate motion picture. I haven’ t seen the film, but there’s a fascinating angle to the book for anyone involved with the professional speaking business.

The two main characters in this sensational Victorian melodrama are rival magicians whose stage acts provide entertainment in the Music Halls of nineteenth-century London. The book chronicles their careers. What’s fascinating is how much like the business of professional speaking today the business of the professional magician was then.

They have their professional associations, journals and tricks of the trade. E very magician preserves their tradecraft:

Magic has no mystery to magicians. We work variations of standard methods. What will seem new or baffling to an audience is simply a technical challenge for other professionals. (p.68)

They struggle in the early days of their career, learning to showcase their tricks as they learn to tolerate rejection by booking agents. They perform to small audiences where and when they find them. They bomb. They try again. They struggle to establish themselves:

The real problem with theatrical bookings is that while they pay well they provide no continuity. Each is at the end of a blind alley. I do my act, I take my applause, I collect my fee, but none of these ensures another booking. Even the reviews in the press are small and grudging. (p.172)

As today, the secret is finding a niche. It might be running seances, or assuming the character of a French scientist, or embracing the use of the novel aspects of electricity in an act. Their careers peak and they struggle to reinvent themselves. The demands are relentless:

A magician can never practise enough, because every moment spent will improve his performance. So I toil in my workshop…and rehearse until I feel sick with preparation. Although my skill with prestidigitation increases, sometimes, in my darker moments, I do wonder why I am continuing to rehearse at all. (p.210)

In the days before television and radio, the internet and mobile connected c0mmunications, these entertainers were the superstars of their day. Those who make their living on the podium today play to much diminished audiences. The volume of bookings, attention spans of audiences and desire for entertainment to be delivered in person were far greater for the Victorians. There were no requirements to turn off cell phones before a speaker came onstage, no glances at a Blackberry if the message was not compelling. Of course, limelight played havoc with your sinus condition and the demands of a roadtrip were just that.

If you want a ripping good yarn, pick up a copy of The Prestige.

The Prestige: speaking magic

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