Carl Diehl
Where do ideas come from—- out of thin air, as if by magic? Or is it in the choreography, the behind-the-scenes, the work with the sleights at hand to generate creative solutions from percieved restrictions?
PAINLESS MAGIC (2025)
In this hour long documentary, Carl Diehl chronicles the histories of his grand-uncle — the magician, vaudevillian, and comedy emcee, Werner “Dorny” Dornfield (1892 -1982) — and then uses insights from Dorny's experiences to consider cultural expressions of curiosity more broadly. Based on research at the American Museum of Magic and interviews with magicians, historians, and Dorny's oldest surviving relatives, this kaleidoscopic account shimmers with anecdotes, ephemera & artifacts of stage magic. Dorny established magic clubs in Chicago in the 1910s and performed soldier-actor gigs across Europe at the end of WWI. He toured North America with Broadway star Elsie Janis, was friends with Houdini and Thurston, and emceed and orchestrated multi-faceted showcases in the Magic Capital of the World.
As with any magic act, misdirection abounds, and Painless Magic wanders into a world bigger than the portrait it first appears to be. Through a mosaic of riddles and revelations from contemporary artists, filmmakers, musicians, and philosophers, Carl Diehl unveils the social scaffolding of creative problem-solving across contexts of art, magic, & everyday life.
MISDIRECTIONS: VIDEO VIGNETTES (2023-2024)
an initial series of short form video vignettes through which Carl Diehl conjured up audiovisual adaptations of his research and writing from Misdirections (see below) These short works have screened nationally and internationally at festivals and events including the Portland Diary Summit, Other Cinema, The HISTORY International Film Festival, and Micro Acts UK, and have since been reworked and incorporated into Painless Magic
MISDIRECTIONS! A SERIO-COMIC CATALOGUE (2022)
Drawing together archival images, original animations, videos, interviews, and live narration adapted from the book, Misdirections! is a live cinema performance-lecture par excellance! Paired with a variety program of cine-magical feats, recent showcases have included videos, films, and performances by: Bill Boyer, Stephanie Hough, Andrew Kim, Kerry Laitala, Aaron O'Neal, Kathleen Quillian, Jeremy Rourke, Cindy Webster, Weird Faction, and others
EXHIBITION RECORD
NOV 2022: PNCA, Portland, OR
OCT 2022: Other Cinema, San Francisco, CA
MAY 2022: Shapeshifters Cinema, Oakland, CA
MAY 2022: Turn! Turn! Turn!, Portland, OR
MISDIRECTIONS: A SERIO-COMIC CATALOGUE OF DETAILS, DETOURS, & DERIVATIONS FROM THE LIFE OF THE MAGICIAN, VAUDEVILLIAN, & COMEDY EMCEE, WERNER "DORNY" DORNFIELD (2022)
What begins as a biography of the magician, Werner "Dorny" Dornfield, broadens into a mosaic of many riddles and revelations. Misdirections is a 68 page chapbook, printed with embedded clues that correspond with an affiliated web-based audiovisual trove. Following clues from the book, attentive readers can unlock further anecdotes, images, and vignettes, including original animations by Portland illustrator, Bill Boyer
Order your copy from Antiquated Future
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