7 Conjuring Imposters: The Extraordinary Illusions of Mundanity
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Brian Rappert
Abstract
Please, consider if you will the intrigues that the figure of the magician holds for thinking about the imposter.1 Doubtless you appreciate that entertainment magic (aka ‘modern conjuring’) involves reciprocally recognized and monitored deception. While magicians might proffer all sorts of verbal and non-verbal explanations for their feats, audiences are aware that both can function as techniques of subterfuge. Magicians, in turn, craft their performances by anticipating that many eyes and ears are primed to detect tell-tale signs of chicanery. Robert-Houdin’s much-quoted characterization of the conjuror suggests still another level of pretence; while the conjuror takes on the guise of a magician, this semblance is only an outward show that obscures the real role: actor.
In what follows, I want to set the performance of magic and the act of impostering next to each other in order to appreciate how they can mutually inform one another. In doing so, my intent is to examine how imposters and their audiences co-constitute each another. I am going to do so from an unconventional tack. Rather than approaching conjuring from the lofty heights of internationally renowned performers – the David Copperfields, Penn & Tellers, David Blaines and so on of this world – my attention is mainly with the stuttering forays of a beginner with little claim to skill. Namely, me. It is from a position of comparative ignorance and inability that I want to voice certain appreciations about co-constitution.
Let’s start with some basics about persona as this can serve as a portal into many other issues. As part of their performance, conjurors frequently adopt a range of guises.
Abstract
Please, consider if you will the intrigues that the figure of the magician holds for thinking about the imposter.1 Doubtless you appreciate that entertainment magic (aka ‘modern conjuring’) involves reciprocally recognized and monitored deception. While magicians might proffer all sorts of verbal and non-verbal explanations for their feats, audiences are aware that both can function as techniques of subterfuge. Magicians, in turn, craft their performances by anticipating that many eyes and ears are primed to detect tell-tale signs of chicanery. Robert-Houdin’s much-quoted characterization of the conjuror suggests still another level of pretence; while the conjuror takes on the guise of a magician, this semblance is only an outward show that obscures the real role: actor.
In what follows, I want to set the performance of magic and the act of impostering next to each other in order to appreciate how they can mutually inform one another. In doing so, my intent is to examine how imposters and their audiences co-constitute each another. I am going to do so from an unconventional tack. Rather than approaching conjuring from the lofty heights of internationally renowned performers – the David Copperfields, Penn & Tellers, David Blaines and so on of this world – my attention is mainly with the stuttering forays of a beginner with little claim to skill. Namely, me. It is from a position of comparative ignorance and inability that I want to voice certain appreciations about co-constitution.
Let’s start with some basics about persona as this can serve as a portal into many other issues. As part of their performance, conjurors frequently adopt a range of guises.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Boxes vii
- Notes on Contributors ix
- Preface xiv
- Thinking with Imposters: The Imposter as Analytic 1
- The Desire to Believe and Belong: Wannabes and Their Audience in a North American Cultural Context 31
- A Menagerie of Imposters and Truth-Tellers: Diederik Stapel and the Crisis in Psychology 53
- Learning from Fakes: A Relational Approach 77
- Imitations of Celebrity 103
- Natural Imposters? A Cuckoo View of Social Relations 127
- Conjuring Imposters: The Extraordinary Illusions of Mundanity 147
- States of Imposture: Scroungerphobia and the Choreography of Suspicion 171
- The Face of ‘the Other’: Biometric Facial Recognition, Imposters and the Art of Outplaying Them 191
- Faking Spirit Possession: Creating ‘Epistemic Murk’ in Bahian Candomblé 219
- The Guerrilla’s ID Card: Flatland against Fatland in Colombia 237
- Good Enough Imposters: The Market for Instagram Followers in Indonesia and Beyond 269
- Thinking beyond the Imposter: Gatecrashing Un/Welcoming Borders 293
- Postscript: Thinking with Imposters – What Were They Thinking? 317
- Index 329
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Boxes vii
- Notes on Contributors ix
- Preface xiv
- Thinking with Imposters: The Imposter as Analytic 1
- The Desire to Believe and Belong: Wannabes and Their Audience in a North American Cultural Context 31
- A Menagerie of Imposters and Truth-Tellers: Diederik Stapel and the Crisis in Psychology 53
- Learning from Fakes: A Relational Approach 77
- Imitations of Celebrity 103
- Natural Imposters? A Cuckoo View of Social Relations 127
- Conjuring Imposters: The Extraordinary Illusions of Mundanity 147
- States of Imposture: Scroungerphobia and the Choreography of Suspicion 171
- The Face of ‘the Other’: Biometric Facial Recognition, Imposters and the Art of Outplaying Them 191
- Faking Spirit Possession: Creating ‘Epistemic Murk’ in Bahian Candomblé 219
- The Guerrilla’s ID Card: Flatland against Fatland in Colombia 237
- Good Enough Imposters: The Market for Instagram Followers in Indonesia and Beyond 269
- Thinking beyond the Imposter: Gatecrashing Un/Welcoming Borders 293
- Postscript: Thinking with Imposters – What Were They Thinking? 317
- Index 329
