Theater of the Macabre

“That old black magic has me in its spell, That old black magic that you weave so well…” Johnny Mercer

“The most foolish mistake man often makes is believing that evil lurks only in the darkness. There is no safety in the sun. Only shadows fear the sun. And shadows are just the dark reflections of daylight. True evil is as at home in the bright light as it is in the darkness. And it has no qualms about snatching you right out in the open.” C. Robert Cargill

Tapping into our primal instincts evokes heightened adrenaline within your body, awareness, and a sense of danger, which lead to intense reactions of fear, anxiety, and arousal of excitement. Threatening situations trigger our fight-or-flight response rooted deep in human psychology, making it a potent tool for grabbing attention and provoking emotional response and a perfect formula and environment to control someone's mind on and off stage.

By presenting mysterious and wonderous feats of legerdemain that elicit mystery and tension, stage magicians captivate the audience's attention and emotional engagement. Good magicians influence audience members and maintain control by creating illusions that defy logic and challenge their concept of reality. By turning off the audience's perception of what is possible, a master manipulator instills a sense of vulnerability, leading them to question their awareness. In other words, it's all an illusion. (My evening show is titled "It's All An Illusion," featuring the finale piece with the same name. During this segment, I perform "Penetrate a Trunk in the Twinkling of an Eye" to music composed by Randy, also named "It's All An Illusion." In the song, I engage in a style that blends rap type singing or rap talking like I like to call it because I can’t sing. 🎶 Lol!)

It’s All An Illusion

Unbelievably, these same techniques can be applied to real-life situations where real wizards reside invisibly among us, weaving their spells unbeknownst to their victims of crimes. I've heard this is called Black Magic because the nonparticipant (s) are unaware of the magic being performed “on” him. “On” him because in a stage show, a magician performs “for” an audience. An important distinction is that when you perform “for” an audience, you enter into a contract with your viewers that in exchange for payment to your performance, an agreement is made to be fooled and amazed and expect a rollercoaster of magical excitement.

In comparison when magic is performed “on” you in the real world, you have no contract with a stage artist. Instead, the contract is one-sided, favoring the con-artist. You are in the dark about the spell cast on you. There is much to be gained by using these mind manipulation techniques for criminal enterprises. How do these nefarious magi accomplish their show? Essential characteristics of human psychology and feelings, such as fear, inquiry, and the curiosity of the unknown, are deeply entrenched in our DNA history. These types of themes resonate with us on a subconscious level, triggering instinctual reactions and stirring up complex sentiments and emotions, transcending eras of time and space and, at times, transporting our subconscious to a spiritual realm where wars are fought between good and evil.

Real-life con artists' trickery is grounded in stage magic, where they learn magic techniques to scam you. A perfect example of an illusion creating that type of pathos with the audience would be the old classic of magic known as The Sawing In Half illusion, which, for decades following its creation by British magician PT Selbit, was performed in a wood box. Not until the last part of the 20th Century, when The Pendragons was reinvented using a see-through glass box, did it change. The sawing-in-half illusion is a perfect example of the prospect of harm or injury, even if only perceived, which provokes fear and anxiety in viewers upon watching it. The illusionist plays on this fear by presenting a scenario where someone appears to be in imminent danger and prompting a strong emotional reaction from the audience. Named Clearly Impossible because you see me head to foot the entire illusion, our see-through sawing-in-half half illusion was an alluring variation of the classic trick. In this version, we performed the illusion with transparent boxes or containers, allowing the audience to see through the entire apparatus during the performance. This added an extra layer of intrigue and impossibility to the illusion, as spectators witnessed every angle of the trick without any hidden compartments or deception. Jonathan seemingly sawed me in half while I remained obvious inside the transparent box. Despite the audience's clear view of the entire effect, the illusion maintained its mystique and wonder, leaving spectators in awe of the seemingly impossible feat before their eyes— suspending them in disbelief.

Themes of danger tap into primal instincts and evoke a sense of adrenaline and heightened awareness. This heightened arousal can lead to intense reactions such as fear, excitement, or anticipation. Danger triggers the fight-or-flight response ingrained in human psychology, making it a potent tool for capturing attention and eliciting emotional responses.

Fundamental aspects of psychology and emotion, such as fear, curiosity, and the unknown, are deeply ingrained in our evolutionary history. These themes resonate with us subconsciously, triggering instinctual reactions and stirring up complex emotions. For example, fear of the unknown is a universal human experience rooted in our survival instincts and innate desire to understand and control our environment.

By tapping into these characteristics of psychology and emotion, storytellers, including magicians and theatrical performers, can create immersive experiences that resonate deeply with audiences. Whether through suspenseful narratives, shocking twists, or unexpected revelations, themes of danger and psychological intrigue can captivate, engage, and leave a lasting impression on people. This is the pathos The Pendragon’s sawing-in-half-half illusion evoked in millions of viewers worldwide when they witnessed this impossible trick. Unlike the older sawing in halves, presented as a puzzle in which spectators guessed how it worked, ours left the audience spellbound and suspended their fear because they were in a theatrical setting. It was the perfect illusion.

The Pendragons performing Clearly Impossible on Disney’s Night of Magic

You ask, what does The Pendragon’s Clearly Impossible have to do with the criminals using magic to harm their victims? Our stunning and unforgettable performance challenged the boundaries of perception and reality. Watching it stimulated fear and anxiety in the viewers as Jonathan threatened me with a sword, causing a sense of urgency followed by a relief of calmness when Jonathan restored my body. We rarely performed it on American TV because of its intensity. It was an illusion we created together and first performed on TV in the UK for one of the segments of Magic Comic Strip series for Thames TV London in the 80s. Later, we presented it on Disney’s Night of Magic, a magic special filmed at Euro Disney, but later renamed its current name, Paris Disney. It was an elaborate TV special we starred in, and our Clearly Impossible was just one of the effects we performed. The show aired worldwide, but when it played in America, our sawing was cut from the program because of the Motion Picture Association. This body governs and rates movies and TV shows for suitability to various audiences. Because of the fear mustered from our sawing-in-half-half illusion, it was eliminated. In some ways, it was a compliment because our sawing in half showcased our mastery and theatrical presentation of this illusion. Our mesmerizing presentation pushed the limits of reality and acceptance. I remember John Fisher, the producer of both Magic Comic Strip and Disney’s Night of Magic, telling me the powers to be in Hollywood thought it too graphic for American TV. I posted the video in this article so that you can judge yourself.

The Pendragon's performance of Clearly Impossible in Comic Strip Live for Thames TV London

A criminal will use the same three elements: fear, urgency, and resolution, which are necessary to perform our version of the sawing in half to commit crimes. This is especially true in online scam robberies, where a scammer grabs a victim's attention by creating fear. Once the victim's guard is down, their primal instincts take over their brain waves and decision-making skills, causing them to make bad judgment calls. A physiological reaction occurs in response to the danger, activating psychological changes to prepare for confronting or fleeing the threat. The professional scammer’s goal is to keep you in a mental state of fear and confusion, so before you decide to withdraw, he creates an urgency for you to take action. A call for action. While your anxiety is high, the scammer will offer the piece de resistance — a resolution. Suddenly, relief washes over you when your fear and anxiety dissipate. It's like a weight being lifted off your shoulders, and a sudden release of tension floods your body with a profound sense of calm and tranquility as the threat and danger disappears.

Photos of The Prndragons performance of their version of Sawing-In-Half

I have often observed how magic principles are used to deceive and manipulate individuals and even entire nations. I've scrutinized this phenomenon mostly in marketing, regardless of what is sold. One that comes to mind is Equivoque, a method magicians utilize to create the illusion of a predetermined result, even though the actual outcome could be several possible alternatives. For instance, I give you a deck of cards, and you believe you can pick one when you are forced to select the card I want you to choose for my intended outcome. The most nefarious use of magic on the public is used by scammers preying on their victims and feeding off their fear. I've experienced this, falling for online sales pitches for something too good to be true. But the worst happened to a trusting elderly friend of mine this last week when she answered a pop-up on her computer giving her a phone number to call her bank’s fraud department because shed been hacked. She called and was delighted to hear the pleasant accent of an East Indian on the line, a reminder of her homeland of India, so she immediately connected with this individual as he told her all of her home devices including all phones, had been hacked by thieves. They had taken her banking information and stole $100,000 out of one of her accounts. The alarming news triggered her primal response of fear and anxiety. The scammer increased her apprehension and anxiety by believing that bank workers were suspects in the crime. She was so heightened by the fear she could not think. Her logical mind was suspended as she put herself in the hands of the scammer. He captured her further by expressing the urgency in immediately repairing the financial disaster. The fact he had her convinced all other devices were bugged sent more chilling fear through her blood veins. Not once through the all-day ordeal did she think to hang up and call the bank from the number located on her debit card. Instead, she put all of her trust in who she thought was a very kind man and even told him how she was baking a cake that day for her granddaughter. Charmed by him, she continued to converse with him all day while he worked with her promising to repair her bank account.

She was told by this man the way the fraud department worked was to have the victim deposit a substantial amount of money in another bank. This way, they could trace the hackers back to the source. Terror mounted as he told her to go to her bank and withdraw $40,000 in cash, and after withdrawing the money, he would give her further directions to an address in our town to deposit the money in the new bank. She said she questioned him about these maneuvers, but he provided reasonable answers satisfying her inquiries. For one thing, she had never had that much cash in her hand before, and that was extremely frightening. He boosted her confidence by reassuring her that he would remain on the line while she drove around town and also mentioned that a security guard was stationed outside her home. So off she went to the bank for the cash.

At the bank, she told the teller nothing as she counted $40,000. Back in her car, the man told her plans had changed, and she was to return home, and a bank courier would pick it up rather than have her risk the hazard of driving it to another bank. Back home, the courier arrived and took the cash down the long driveway where my friend met her. But before she did, my friend had the fortitude to take her photo, and instead of going back inside, she got her mail and took a picture of the courier’s car. Still, no license plate was on the front, so she missed the plate numbers and didn't think to photograph the so-called security vehicle. Still believing these people were her friends, she continued her conversation with the lovely man who had called her five hours prior. Her husband came home from work and also spoke to the man on, and he, too, was convinced of his legitimacy. They were told not to discuss the incident with anyone because the operation might be compromised, causing her to speak hushedly when I Facetimed her. I thought something was out of place. Of course, it all made sense a day later when she told me she'd been scammed. The plan was for her to call the man back the following day to receive confirmation her $40,000 was in the new account. Guess what? Yep! The line was dead. It was a burner phone owned by a lady whose ID was stolen.

The good news is the scammer picked the wrong people to hurt. Well-established in this community, the police have worked diligently to track the car. It is a rural town with one way out of town on Highway 65 unless you are familiar with the backroads. With warrants in their possession, they have traced the car to a specific home in a neighborhood in LA. Most likely, the female courier driving the vehicle was human trafficked and forced to do this work. Still, the police are confident they will find the conspirators and benefactors of this horrible crime. My friend's daughter has more information given to her by the cops, but she can’t talk about it to her mother or anyone to not compromise the investigation.

This crime has left my friends so wholly shattered in the last week. She told me how somebody had just taken over her mind and maneuvered her like a robot. She is a remarkable woman who has been educated in some of the best universities in finance and economics. Those who seek advice on investments do well listening to her expert suggestions. Everyone surrounding her says the same thing: she is the least likely candidate ever to be scammed and fooled. It broke my heart when I saw her yesterday and her confidence in shreds. Somebody had raped her mind. That is a problematic traumatic experience to overcome. in the aftermath, she had to replace every computer and phone in their home. It was a costly endeavor, but the police confiscated all their devices for evidence, so she and her husband, of course, complied.

Although this may not mark a typical happy ending to my stories, I feel compelled to remind everyone to remain vigilant against scammers. It's crucial to follow the advice of hanging up the phone and contacting your institution directly to verify the legitimacy of any caller ID. Understand that if it can happen to my friend, it can happen to you. Don’t allow fear to overtake your mind if you are in a similar situation. Fear is your worst enemy and can be your downfall. Reaching into your mind and triggering primal instincts is your first weapon. Your defense is to hang up, get your mind back, and call your institution. Recognize the signs of a con artist; they always use fear, urgency, and resolution to control your actions. Run the other direction if you encounter a deceiver. It blew my mind when I recognized the use of stage magic techniques and manipulation in a criminal setting, so I altered this week's article to reflect that profound incident. I want to ensure none of my friends ever go through the situation my friend experienced this last week.

Enjoy a beautiful springtime weekend, and avoid danger unless you watch it as a stage presentation. In real life, it sucks.