BOTHERED
By Mike Rogers
I'd
better put the firewalls up, for I know I'll
be flamed to the max for what I'm about to say.
However, something has me bothered. It's simply
this. When is it acceptable to do the act or
material of another? Why would I ask that? It
is old hat. We learn from day one not to copy
another. Be originalÖ.. Be originalÖ.. Be originalÖÖWe've
all heard it until we are sick of hearing it.
Moreover, we all say we agree. Use your own
patter, use your own presentation, and use your
own performing style. Right? Right. That being
said, do we really endorse this concept of ethics
in performing?
I think
so, but alas, I think not. If another magician
were to duplicate my act, present it as my act,
do it like I do it, do it extremely well, maybe
even better than I can do it, would I be pleased?
Flattered? Complimented? Absolutely not! The
same can be said for any act in show business.
So what's the point of this drivel? Most, I
believe, would agree with what I've said. The
point is this. What if I were dead, in the ground,
having a body temperature matching that of the
soil? (At times I think some wish I were there!)
Have
things changed? Perhaps so. Is it OK to copy
and duplicate the act of an entertainer no longer
living? Think about it for a minute. Hal Holbrook
has made a career doing Mark Twain. Everyone
seeing the program loves the show. Likewise,
a friend of mine has built a delightful show
portraying the character of one of America's
most beloved past comics. Still another magician
who held high office in a large magic society
is traveling the country doing the material
of one of his mentors who was a much beloved
man in all of magic. Moreover, the late Elvis
Presley probably has more road companies than
any entertainer in history.
The people
being copied are no longer among the living.
Simply put, I guess it's OK to copy another
if the one being copied is no longer among the
breathing population. It's then called a tribute.
It goes deeper though. There is a difference.
When Hal Holbrook does Mark Twain he is demonstrating
acting skills. Obviously Mr. Holbrook never
saw Mark Twain, so his impressions are truly
acting. He is portraying Mark Twain as we might
have enjoyed seeing him in real life, or as
Holbrook and his director assume Mr. Twain to
have been. It's acting, superb acting at its
best. My friend Mike Stavrou, a transplanted
yank living in Sydney, put it this way. Do I
have to die to get respect?
That
being said, when an entertainer portrays a departed
icon is it still acting if he has seen and known
the departed one in real life? Is that acting,
or is that simply copying? If it's copying why
is it acceptable if the honored one is dead,
but not acceptable if the honored one were alive?
I don't
know. You tell me.
