Cartoons, cartoons, cartoons.... John Crowther's Cartoon Odyssey

I think of it as The Fool's Journey. I've been asked who the "fool" is. It's me, but in the classical sense of the court jester. Only the fool was allowed to tell the king of his follies. All cartoons are available as prints or originals, framed or unframed, through my website or e-mail. For mugs, t-shirts, and other products visit my gift shop at www.zazzle.com/jcrowtherart* (be sure to include the *).

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Presto Change-O

Other than the usual youthful fascination with the simple magic tricks one could buy at novelty stores, I never had a burning desire to be a magician, never assembled a costume, never gave myself a name, like the Amazing Giovanni, never performed at kids' birthday parties. I became an actor instead. It's the same thing. When a magician makes a coin disappear, nobody really, down deep, believes the coin actually vanished into thin air. You know it's somewhere, in a pocket, up a sleeve, somewhere. What captivates us is the illusion that the coin is gone, only to reappear later inside a hard boiled egg. The magician is aided by the fact that people want to believe. With acting it's the same thing. Nobody goes to a movie and thinks Johnny Depp is an actual pirate, or Meryl Streep has become whatever. We're not fooled. We know it's Henry Fonda there on the screen, not a Joad. What astonishes us, when it's good, is the illusion of transformation, and the skill of the actor to pull it off. It's why people have such an amazingly short memory when it comes to the sincerity of politicians. Every time a political campaign comes around they want desperately to believe their favorite candidate, whose success depends largely on his ability to create the illusion that he's actually going to keep his promises this time around.

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The presentation professions-acting,politics,sales-have always been with us. What is different is the mediation of these by television and movies. The difference between stage acting where a character has to be maintained for the entire show and screen acting-the 30 second bite must be profound. roger

9:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

>>Nobody goes to a movie and thinks Johnny Depp is an actual pirate,<<

He isn’t? Well, I suppose the next thing you’ll be wanting us to believe is that there is no tooth fairy!

On the other hand, isn’t it amazing how all great artists are illusionists, making us see something that was not there before, making us believe. Here the old professore, a true believer, would like to quote Picasso who said it best in 1923, “We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth. At least the truth that is given us to understand “

9:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

>>Every time a political campaign comes around they want desperately to believe their favorite candidate, whose success depends largely on his ability to create the illusion that he's actually going to keep his promises this time around.<<

And speaking of illusionists, judging from the way Senator Joe Biden and some of his congressional colleagues are acting up these days, it sure looks like there’s a movement on to stop one current prestigitator from touring with the same old road show.

9:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Last year I read "Symptoms of Withdrawal : A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption" by Christopher Kennedy Lawford.

He told how his father, Peter Lawford, prepared Kennedy for his debate with Nixon. He sent him to an expensive tailor in NY for a new special suit. Hollywood makeup artists did his hair and makeup, he coached him on his way to move and stand on the stage and what to say and do. Nixon stood there, sweat running down his face under the hot lights and lost the debate.

Now I wonder if all candidates prepare for TV debates this way?

2:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Woops..... hit enter before I signed my name.
Katherine

2:59 PM  
Blogger John M Crowther said...

Very appropriate recollection, Katherine. Yes, image has now taken over from substance. Candidates are sold to us in packages pretty much the same way as breakfast cereal.

7:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sheesh...so that's how Bush got in...he's really a Kelloggs Fruit Loop? (:-D

8:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm with the Professor - I see a movie and the actor truly ruly "is" the person they are playing...(okay call me gullible LOL) but interestingly there are some actors whose personas are so large that they simply can't get past themselves in order to play a convincing role. No matter how hard I try I still see the "actor" and not the "character" they are attempting to play. Nicole Kidman is at the top of that list. Meryl Streep on the other hand always convinces. She was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s in the Devil Wears Prada. And hats off to just about the whole cast of The Queen. Without even so much as a physical resemblance (inspired casting) most of the cast were more than convincing exp. Michael Sheen as PM Tony Blair (oh the body language)...and of course Dame Helen Mirren...for her exceptional (and impeccable) performance as Her Majesty. (Not sure Lizzie will like it though...would love to be a fly on the wall at the next Palace briefing! LOL)

9:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

>>Now I wonder if all candidates prepare for TV debates this way? <<

Absolutely. As our leader is notorious for his inability to ad-lib a simple English sentence and his talent for putting foot in mouth, you can be certain that Karl Rove and gang didn’t let Bush onto the floor of Congress before he had undergone hours of careful rehearsal. The State of Union speech was written by someone, and coached by another. Bush may not have Ronny Reagan’s professional talent for recitation, but you do have to hand it to the man from Texas and Skull and Bones, he does practice the role our electoral college “elected” him to play. Watching him at work is like observing the best actor in a high school play doing his best, whereas our previous president, Mr. Clinton, for all his faults as a husband, certainly had star quality.

5:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

>>No matter how hard I try I still see the "actor" and not the "character" they are attempting to play. Nicole Kidman is at the top of that list. Meryl Streep on the other hand always convinces.<<

True enough, but when I watched Meryl Streep in her earliest film roles, I for one was always aware of her exceptional technique ability; rather like listening to a young pianist at the Tchaikovsky competition showing off. These days, however, Meryl is so much in control of that fabulous instrument that she “is” the character and no longer needs to ACT like one. I am a great admirer of Kidman; in addition to be a very beautiful woman, she is a true character actor, capable of transforming herself from role to role. In time, I predict, she will stop ACTING and just act.

6:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

John C., this cartoon is a jewel. Fell off chair laughing. Il professore as usual, inspires us all with his witty comments. All the comments were great to read. Fear not, il professore, there really is a tooth fairy!

8:01 AM  
Blogger John M Crowther said...

Just as the actor is always two people at once, the actor who waits for the cue for his next line, and the character, who has no idea what the other character is about to say, the audience member also of two minds. It's why we come out of the theatre saying "wow, wsn't Meryl Streep wonderful," meaning, she really made me believe I was watching someone else. Likewise, we say of the magician, "boy, for a minute there I really believed he turned that beuatiful girl into an elephant."

10:43 AM  

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