Magicians Prakash Puru and Matthew Holtzclaw.
New York City, 2013
Photo by the brilliant Andrea Rojas.
Houdini & his prosthetic hands. You can never have too many.
Gob Bluth and the Magicians’ Alliance in front of the Gothic Castle
Photo by nikola tamindzic / ilovenikola.com
I am part of a documentary about the New York burlesque scene called “Burlesque: a Reemergence”; weird, because the title makes it sound like burlesque has been submerged somewhere. Regardless, the team making it is a lovely group of people and they are doing the whole thing right. They are talking to the absolute best out there and they aren’t shying away from the darker, more provocative acts. Some members of the team were a bit shocked and provoked by this element of burlesque because they had only seen the pretty fans and feather boas and not the fake blood and poop. There was even discussion about whether or not some of it constituted art.
I spent the morning hungover and exhausted from performing last night, being interviewed for this documentary. I only hope I didn’t come across as an angry old shit when they asked me whether burlesque is an art. As I said in a recent post, art is anything that isn’t washing the dishes or taking out the trash. I really, really hate that kind of question and I fear that comes across in the interview. I don’t want to have to come to you and have you tell me whether something is art or not.
I need a nap. Frrrt.

Apollo Robbins, the best pickpocket alive, showing his skills for New Yorker magazine. Love this.
Is magic an art? (by R Paul Wilson)
I have a lot of friends in this video sincerely answering the ridiculous question in the title. ”Art is whatever we do when the chores are done” is Teller’s definition and that works fine for me. I can’t imagine the other art forms seriously asking this question of themselves.
It reminds me of the running joke in the show Arrested Development. Gob Bluth, the terrible magician in the family, is in a Magicians’ Alliance group photo in front of the “Gothic Castle” and they are holding a big sign that says “WE DEMAND TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY”.
Take what you do seriously, don’t dress like a fucking retard, and don’t do material you bought that week with lines and jokes you stole from other performers and then maybe the rest of the world will take you seriously too. Hell, they might even call it “art”.
The amazing Matt Holtzclaw and the lovely Rachel Plotkin! A quickie first from our shoot last week.