The Magic Trail
We’ve always had a soft spot for a bit of hocus pocus, so at this year's festival we decided to organise a Magic Trail.
If you'd like to find out more about magic then you might be interested in these chaps. Send me an email (hannah@westportbookfestival.org) and I'll put you in touch.
Edinburgh artist Sharon Whyte, whose work is focused around her interest in the history of magic and unusual types of performance. She’s particularly keen on ‘educated’ or ‘learned’ animals. These creatures, which ranged from pigs and dogs to geese and sparrows, trod the boards from the sixteenth century onwards, reaching the height of their popularity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We’ve snaffled some work from Sharon’s latest series, A Sage of the Stage, not a Beast in a Cage which has been shown at The Magic Circle in London. The full series can be seen throughout August at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. You can purchase a catalogue on Sharon’s latest exhibition from participating venues, or by visiting her website www.sharonwhyte.co.uk. Find out more about learned animals on her blog www.thesapientpig.wordpress.com.
Gordon Bruce is a musician, magician and key holder of Scotland’s Magic History Archive, a collection of thousands of magic books he’s accumulated over the last forty years.
Éireann Leverett is a software engineer by day, an alternate reality game designer when he gets a chance, and a close-up magician by night.
Paul Besly who is appearing at the Fringe.
Neil Stirton has been performing magic for over ten years, appearing at Magic Circles the country over.
Éireann, Paul and Neil are all associated with ‘the nine of diamonds’, a reclusive association of various magicians, happy to perform or teach talented enthusiasts of all ages – if only you can tell them why they’re called the nine of diamonds!