Bullet Catch

Photo by Jamie Williams

Magic by nature is never ordinary. And Bullet Catch is not your run-of-the-mill flashy magic show. There is definitely a captivating ‘more than meets the eye’ element to this piece, stemming from the skilful interweaving of storytelling, philosophical musings, and an intriguing take on breaking the fourth wall.

Yes, William Wonder, Drummond’s magic-man persona, performs some awe-inspiring tricks, mostly of the mentalist variety, and he even reveals the secret to one – but not before giving the audience a choice between preserving the illusion or satisfying their curiosity; and asking a few why they feel so inclined either way. And it is with this endearing manner that Drummond courts his audience; by teasing out beliefs about free will, curiosity and human interaction, the show gears into genuine conversational mode rather than a top-hat spectacle.

At the beginning, Drummond selects a volunteer from the audience to be his sidekick, not only for the magic but to tell the story of Victorian-era magician William Henderson (whose portrait is illuminated in the background of the aptly minimal period setting), infamous for his ill-fated death-defying bullet-catch trick, and for his assistant Charles Garth. Through Garth’s later epistolary accounts we learn that Henderson’s motivation to perform the feat was shrouded in its own mystery. While this narrative is compelling it becomes overshadowed and a bit more of a handmaiden to the other elements of the show. It leaves one wanting an extra few minutes of story and continuity, although it by no means appears to be a simple task to pull off this particular meld.

Wonder plays with the typical magician brand as he self-effacingly doubts his magical prowess and asks his assistant not-so-superficial questions, ever-so-affably to establish trust. When the pertinence of these questions resonates, the wider audience comes to trust Wonder. The palpable empathy we feel is key, especially as our comfort is undercut by increasing suspicion of what awaits us in the denouement.

This is the real sleight-of-hand that Drummond performs. Early in the show he refers to a Freudian observation that when we first meet another, we want to kill, save or love them –and the message is reiterated by the three framed words onstage. As gentle storyteller, conversationalist and illusionist, Wonder eases us to the bullet-catch finale and has us contemplating how, as both magician and human, he has carried us there with light and dark notes along the way. Bullet Catch both unassumingly seduces and builds unnerving suspense as it unravels the illusion of performance.

Bullet Catch 

Performer: Rob Drummond