That’s not magic: Penn, Teller and Derren Brown reveal all (or do they?)
Brian Logan for the Guardian..
In tune with our sceptical times, magicians debunk the supernatural. But are they really as rationalist as they claim?
It’s odd that we use the same word to describe those who merely pretendto make magic happen on stage. Few in their audience – kids notwithstanding – may ever have believed that stage conjurors genuinely dabble in the supernatural, but at least that’s what the acts occasionally purported to do. They called themselves magicians because they enjoyed generating the sense that what they did on stage was real magic.
Not any more. These days, the big magic acts – including the biggest of them all, Penn and Teller, who are in the UK this week – debunk the supernatural. Derren Brown’s another prime example..