In Vincent Gambini’s solo performance piece not only do we experience some impressive and entertaining card and coin tricks but we also gain insight into the process of showing and performing work itself. What goes on in the mind of a magician? What is the audience thinking as they watch a magician perform? What role does magic play within society today? On a very practical level Vincent reveals that he is anxious and unsure about the best tricks to open and close his show with, eventually calling the Magic Circle hotline for advice (where coincidentally both Derren Brown and David Blane are on hand for him to speak to). He also speaks from time to time to ‘Little Fish’ a card with a felt-tip fish on it that lives in the pocket of his magician’s suit jacket, a uniform he barely wears nowadays and for good reason it turns out- when he slips it on he becomes a garish children’s entertainer. Towards the end of the piece compelling research gathered from a neuroscientist is shared and on a meta-level an awareness of the slipperiness of fiction and identities seeps into everything. A feeling which is further underlined by the fact Vincent Gambini is of course the nom de plume of performance artist Augusto Corrieri. (SG)
THIS IS NOT A MAGIC SHOW, Vincent Gambini, 17-21 August, Forest Fringe. This venue is wheelchair accessible. http://forestfringe.co.uk/edinburgh2015/event/vincent-gambini/2015-08-19/
More on August Corrieri www.augustocorrieri.com
The psychological experience of the performer is also explored in MUST the inside story by Peggy Shaw: http://www.clodensemble.com/performance/must.htm
The psychology of being part of an audience is often the focus of Foced Entertainment’s work www.forcedentertainment.com
Lyn Gardner on Forced Entertainment http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/feb/23/forced-entertainment-sheffield
Artist Tim Bromage also uses magic and interdisciplinary performance to investigate the ways we watch and perceive http://www.axisweb.org/features/profile/open-frequency/tim-bromage/