1 . Secrets Revealed
( 4 secrets most people don ’ t know about the guest )
- I officiated as a fake Marabout for a wedding ceremony . - I collect optical toys from the 19th century ( Praxinoscope , Phénakistiscope , Zootrope , Stereoscope , magic lantern ...) - I ' m a fan of David Bowie , his worlds , his music , his characters . An absolute artistic model for me . - My favorite cinematographic genre is film noir , the golden age of Hollywood , from the 1940s to 1950s , with its legendary directors : Preminger , Wilder , Huston , Lang , Tourneur ...
2 . Favourite Quote
CARPE DIEM ( Carpe diem , quam minimum credula postero ). A Latin phrase taken from a poem by Horace which is translated as : " Seize the present day without worrying about the next day " and which can be summed up as " Take advantage of the present moment ".
3 . Dream Encounter
I dream of a one-to-one meeting with the Italian director and " magician of fear " Dario Argento to talk with him about his macabre and poetic fantasies which have forever etched my retina and have rocked my dreams for the past thirty years . It would be a surreal encounter ; the dream of a dream ...
4 . Favourite Photo ( Magician ’ s Pic )
I am very attached to magical iconography and the " staging " of magicians in their posters which has evolved over the centuries with very specific codes . Above all , I love artistic lithographs by the great magicians of the Golden Age .
I will choose Balaam and his donkey ( 1914 ), a daring composition for Howard Thurston . The exceptional quality of the designs , colors , contrasts , typography and its meaning make this poster unique . We see Thurston perform different skits in a cinematic montage that shows the different steps of the trick . These images , emerging from a cauldron , are coated in an unreal and dreamlike smoke that escapes behind a large curtain . There are two historical references here : ancient Egypt ( costumes and decor ) and ancient Greece ( sacrificial tripod ). Magic mixes with religion in a ritual reminiscent of the " Oracles of Delphi " and its priestess the Pythia . This " simple " magic trick summons a powerful cultural and historical imagination beyond entertainment !
Besides the actors of the trick with the donkey , we find secondary characters who are a constant in the posters of this time . First , the three little figures with elf ears can be considered skeptics of science or deities representing human destiny from birth to death .
Finally , there is the iconic image of imps who are messengers and smugglers between the occult world of spirits and the real world of audience . We can see the famous myth of Faust : the absolute knowledge that is transmitted or the " evil " side of a magic trick . The accomplice devil , appears around the 1910 ’ s and recurs in many posters of magicians such as Kellar , Dante , Blackstone , Carter , Tampa , up to Ricky Jay .
SPECIAL EDITION | 2021 49