Traurige Zauberer (Sad Magicians)

No one stands up for ridiculous characters with quite as much consistency as Thom Luz. Whether they go on crazy exploration excursions and phone the great beyond, whether they are demented encyclopedists and friends of LSD, hypochondriacs or artists in all their vulnerability – they are the heroes of this young Swiss author and director. In all his works, he communicates his deep faith in the fact that these parallel worlds hold more of what is miraculous than all the temptations of consumption, careers and credit. And now he turns to magicians, these pilots of illusion, who would have us believe in things that ought not to be. In this musical test assembly, Luz sets these pros of deception against each other, looks for traces of their special talents and reveals them to be jealous competitors, sabotaging each other and fighting over their female assistants. But even in all their human baseness, these weirdos hold an illusion of happiness which immediately fascinates all those of us with a more normal craving for recognition. That is this evening’s happy magic: The dignity of the ridiculous cannot be made to disappear.

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