“Oriental Magic”
Marty April 5th, 2009
There are many styles of magic. Some of them are creations of cultures and sensibilities. There were really Chinese magicians, dressed in silk robes and performing their magic, a mix of juggling, music, acting, and acrobatics that was uniquely Chinese. Similar acts from other locals reflected the civilizations they came from. Over time much of it combined, Uneducated audiences, uneducated in the cultures that spawned these acts, were uninterested in distinguishing things and perhaps the performers stopped caring as well. I’m not enough of a historian to know.
Fast forward a hundred years or so and we find a number of Western performers whose acts were Asian themed, often Chinese, with acts that were honestly thought to embody Asian themes and mystique. There have also been genuine Asian magicians, although in very small numbers.
Move forward to the recent past. There are lots of performers who have "Oriental Magic" as part of their acts. They have Asian style costumes with what they fancy as oriental style music, often spouting a gibberish combination of bits of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English (at least in the USA) with faux-accents.
Please don’t do Oriental style magic. It’s just too hokey and there is nothing to be gained from pretending to be Oriental, especially if it is truly "Oriental" rather than "Japanese" or "Chinese" or "Korean". I once saw a Chinese sticks routine done with pseudo Chinese costume, but with Japanese phrases and non-sense sounds which were more Japanese and Korean than Chinese. I found it insulting.
I feel the same way about Oriental style decorations. If you don’t know what that Character on the side of your prop says, then don’t use it.
This isn’t to say that you can’t do things with Asian themes, just that you should be respectful.