The Trick – How Magicians Invented Invention Saturday 22 April

WANTED: Trainee Mindreaders.
Workshop – 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Come along and learn something new! Stuart is looking for people to train using techniques first used by Victorian performers and developed in collaboration with Cognovo and Pervasive Media Studio for his 2015 Venice Biennale show Season of Sleeps. He’ll teach you how to read each other’s minds and you’ll then decide together how best to incorporate your new skills into an evening performance with Stuart. (You must be able to attend the 7.30pm evening performance)
If you have any questions regarding participation in the workshop please contactmagicresearchgroup@gmail.com
About the show
“History seems to show us that the impossible is probably the most likely thing of all.” – The Flame Alphabet, Ben Marcus
What do spiritualist séances, lie detection, Surrealism, and mathematically gifted pigs have in common?
Beginning with the previously untold stories of the early conjurers whose impossibilities shattered the status quo, The Trick asks, what can magic can tell us about the deceptions of the future?
In a world of Fake News and Alternative Facts, what does an Illusionist do?
In a future of Artificial Intelligence and Electronic Surveillance, what does mindreading even mean?
Stuart will be joined onstage by the group of trainee mindreaders who have learned their new skills at the workshop earlier that day. They will be playing in the busy traffic between conscious thought, muscle action, and embodied imagination.
“Be reasonable, demand the IMPOSSIBLE.”
About Stuart
Stuart Nolan is a performer who combines traditional disciplines of deception with innovative technology. His current show, Season of Sleeps, premiered at the 2015 Venice Biennale. He is currently writing a non-fiction book, “The Trick: How Magicians Invented Invention”.
He is Magician in Residence at Pervasive Media Studio, a former NESTA Fellow in Applied Magic, and a consultant technologist and assessor for Innovate UK with specific expertise in Digital Media, Locative Media, Internet of Things, Wearables, Robotics, User Experience Design, and Film & TV Technology.
He once deceived over 700 organisations just to prove a point.

Real Good, For Free Saturday 6 May

A celebration of the open mic scene.
Symposium: 11:00am – 5:00pm Open Mic Night: 6:30pm – 11:00pm
Venue: Vortex Gallery and Wood Street Craft Beer House and Live Music Venue

Open Mic nights are a contemporary phenomenon, with many venues hosting events on a weekly or monthly basis. Following in the tradition of the 19th century Song and Supper rooms, these nights feature a range of artists – poets, musicians, comedians and storytellers – gathering together to perform to and entertain, each other. Open Mic nights can allow performers a platform to hone their skills, build a following, test new material and take a few risks. They may also create generous, convivial spaces in which live performance is liberated from critical and commercial pressure and reinvigorated as a place of cultural and community engagement.
This informal symposium offers a chance to celebrate and consider the emergence of this phenomenon. Discussions, performances and presentations will reflect on what Open Mics tell us about performance, community and social spaces at this moment in the 21st century. The day will feature contributions from local performers, Open Mic stalwarts, and academics before leading into an Open Mic session in the evening.
For more information contact: d.a.calvert@hud.ac.uk