Twodoo Voodoo

[Marty Jacobs]

To celebrate Halloween, I've dusted the cobwebs off an old blog post about how magical performers, usually unintentionally, misrepresent Voodoo. I'd be keen to hear other performers' thoughts, especially those who use Voodoo as a thematic device.

True Voodoo: Magic and Cultural Appropriation

I've also included a link to a two-person handling of Guy Hollingworth's "The Voodoo Card" called "Twodoo Voodoo". It makes good use of the Christ Force and includes one or two subtleties that, I think, strengthen the sympathetic magic plot.

Wishing you a spooktacular All Hallows' Eve.

All the Best,

Monsterous Marty

[Marty Jacobs]

I meant to change the title before I published this. Here's the updated link:

True Voodoo: 5 Voodoo Myths Busted!

I did plan to add some commentary about cultural appropriation in the world of magic, but it proved to be a much bigger topic than I had imagined! I've decided to save it for a future blog post, so I can cover all aspects of this important topic.

Marty

[MagicbyAlfred]

That was a very interesting, informative, and well-researched article (a/k/a blog). It's amazing to think how you can go all your life with radical misconceptions about something, in this case, Voodoo (a/k/a Vodou). The very name itself is commonly associated with forces of darkness, and yet, it literally means "pure light." I was shocked to learn that not only is the alleged Voodoo/Vodou practice of sticking needles into dolls in order to harm someone a complete myth, but harming another is strictly forbidden, and the central theme of the Voodoo religion is actually healing and the achievement of higher consciousness. And to think of all the good money and time I've wasted on dolls and pins...

Dan Harlan is a very talented guy, and I wanted to like the Harlan trick, Deja Voodoo, I really did. But I just couldn't get by the story line of torture by lighting someone's foot on fire, tearing their leg off, thrusting a knife into their guts, or ripping their head off, along with the patter that actually places the spectator in the role of the gory perpetrator. Together with the violent depictions on the cards, these are just not the kind of (frankly disturbing) images I choose to conjure up to the people I want to uplift with magic. If that sounds like a condemnation of the trick...

...it should, because that's what it is. But then, different strokes for different blokes.

Happy Halloween everyone, and I hope all your tricks are treats!

[Marty Jacobs]

Dan Harlan is a very talented guy, and I wanted to like the Harlan trick, Deja Voodoo, I really did. But I just couldn't get by the story line of torture by lighting someone's foot on fire, tearing their leg off, thrusting a knife into their guts, or ripping their head off, along with the patter that actually places the spectator in the role of the gory perpetrator. Together with the violent depictions on the cards, these are just not the kind of (frankly disturbing) images I choose to conjure up to the people I want to uplift with magic. If that sounds like a condemnation of the trick...

I did buy "Deja Voodoo", but I've yet to perform it because the suggested scripting makes me uncomfortable for the same reasons you mention. I think a performer like Eugene Burger could get away with this kind of presentation because it was clear that it was all done tongue-in-cheek. Asking someone to think of a person they'd like to stab feels like a step too far for me. However, I'm sure there is a way to make the trick play without using the suggested presentation. The method behind the trick is excellent.

From my research, it would be more accurate to refer to the doll as a poppet and develop a script based on witchcraft and sympathetic magic. I need to do some more research into this aspect of witchcraft. Luckily, I work with some academics who are experts on this very topic!

Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic. And Happy Halloween to you, too!

Marty

[katterfelt0]

Liam Montier also has a "voodoo" effect with the same misconceptions built in.

[Bob Farmer]

"Deja Voodoo" was a title I created for my effect of the same name, a trick that Harry Anderson used to win a Magic Castle Award. Harlan seems to have overlooked that. You can find my trick here:

https://www.lybrary.com/bammo-gaffus-ma ... 23938.html

There is voodoo as understood in the popular imagination and then there is the real voodoo. The real voodoo is uninteresting; the popular understanding is not. In creating a presentation, I'll go with the fake voodoo every time, it isn't a performer's job to educate an audience on the world's religions, it's the performer's job to take what an audience believes and use it for a better effect.

Of course, an exception would be made if performing for an audience of Voudoun acolytes, in which case switching to some other religion would be preferable for the effect.

[Marty Jacobs]

Hi Bob, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic. With all due respect, that sounds like a cop-out. Anyone spreading misinformation should be accountable for their actions, regardless of their intentions. The fact that it is done in the name of entertainment doesn't give performers a free pass to disregard the cultural heritage of minority groups.

Now, I agree that fake Voodoo is more interesting from a magical presentation point of view. But it is perfectly possible to use sympathetic magic as your premise and address some of these popular myths and misconceptions without diluting the impact of your magic. Of course, this approach takes more effort and a better script. However, such an endeavour doesn't have to become a lesson or lecture on religion.

I also think real Voodoo is very interesting. Otherwise, I wouldn't have spent time writing the article in the first place!

Marty

[Marty Jacobs]

Liam Montier also has a "voodoo" effect with the same misconceptions built in.

Thanks for reminding me about this trick.

Marty

[Bob Farmer]

Marty, I agree, but only if the real voodoo presentation does not lean overly heavily on education. It has to make the real thing interesting for the audience, not an evangelical commercial.

[Marty Jacobs]

Marty, I agree, but only if the real voodoo presentation does not lean overly heavily on education. It has to make the real thing interesting for the audience, not an evangelical commercial.

I agree. A long, drawn-out monologue isn't needed. The addition might only comprise a few extra lines in your script. Something like this:

"Did you know that, just like fortune cookies are not Chinese, Voodoo dolls have nothing to do with Voodoo! Instead, sympathetic magic has its roots in medieval witchcraft..."

I plan to perform "The Voodoo Card" as a demonstration of sympathetic magic, with an introduction similar to the above example. Then finish by mentioning that "true Voodoo" is based on healing, at which point I'll restore the two cards to perfect health.

Marty

[MagicbyAlfred]

Choice of material, patter, presentation, etc. all fall within the realm of the term Marty used on another thread: "Artistic Choice."

However, in my opinion (and let me emphasize the word, "opinion") that "choice" should be guided by the impact or potential impact upon the spectator(s). After all, magic is a performing art, and there is no performance without them. With that in mind, respectfully, I don't see how flipping the script from Voodoo to witchcraft, or any other story line, changes the gory and violent nature of cards with drawings depicting stabbing, burning, ripping off heads or legs, etc. Yes, Harlan's method is clever and I suppose it's nice -- even magical -- that a "cure" is symbolically accomplished by the prediction card. But that still begs the question of the propriety of material that is going to instill in the spectators disturbing images and thoughts concerning the perpetration of violence in the first place. I would be less concerned about evangelizing to people than generating such images and thoughts.

[katterfelt0]

... that still begs the question of the propriety of material that is going to instill in the spectators disturbing images and thoughts concerning the perpetration of violence in the first place. I would be less concerned about evangelizing to people than generating such images and thoughts.

It then becomes a matter of venue and audience. Some people like disturbing images. After all, slasher movies and Stephen King books are insanely popular.

[MagicbyAlfred]

... that still begs the question of the propriety of material that is going to instill in the spectators disturbing images and thoughts concerning the perpetration of violence in the first place. I would be less concerned about evangelizing to people than generating such images and thoughts.

It then becomes a matter of venue and audience. Some people like disturbing images. After all, slasher movies and Stephen King books are insanely popular.

That's true. But in my own personal experience in decades of performing, I have never come across a venue or audience like that.

[Marty Jacobs]

My main issue isn't the violent elements of the presentation, although I wouldn't ask someone to think of someone they know to be the subject of the voodooism (that's the bit I really didn't like in Dan Harlan's presentation). Instead, it is the misrepresentation of Voodoo that I was addressing; calling the Voodoo doll a poppet and basing the script on witchcraft won't make the trick less violent.

There's a time and a place for this kind of trick; I have a friend who loves horror films, b-movies and video nasties. This trick would be right up his street. I also think the cartoony artwork softens the violence a little. I'm sure there are performers of bizarre magick that would consider this trick tame. Even so, I don't think this trick will suit many people's performing personas.

Marty

[MagicbyAlfred]

Within the particular and limited contexts Marty and Ketterfelt0 cite, the performance of the trick would seem to be perfectly appropriate.