Skepticblog

Zeena (from the film)

Fortunately, my background in magic, mentalism and deception gave me a totally different outlook on psychics. I doubt if I would have ever first read the book “Nightmare Alley” if I hadn’t had the “good fortune” to have some very savvy magic teachers who recommended reading it cover to cover. Then later, without Tyrone Power’s fall from grace in the film version, it’s possible that I might have lost all sense of equilibrium and ended up one of the thousands of lost woo con artists in the mode of that other Edward, VanPraagh and Sylvia Browne.

Tyrone Power & Helen Walker (from the film)

The novel is solid gold, the film (as usual) is not quite as good – but still should be mandatory viewing for anybody involved in skepticism. I’m sure Randi would wholeheartedly agree. It remains a dark study on deep psychological questions such as how we read and interact with each other and a study in the power of suggestion that begs the question: Are we driven by fate to make the choices we do, or can we ever know ourselves enough to change?

When I wrote “Psychic Blues,” it was meant to be a humorous contemporary version of “Alley’s”core issues. I refer to it often because it has always been right up my alley. It became a code I lived by for a long time. As much as I hate to admit it, I suppose in some ways I am as Penn Jillette said on the episode of “Bullshit” that I appeared on; “…a reformed con artist.” Watch the film or read the book and you will have a keen edge on everything I’ve worked hard to avoid – and even harder to make people aware of. The story connected so deeply with Gresham’s internal agony that he said, “to get rid of it, I had to write it out.” I can totally relate to that sentiment.

Now Hollywood has once again gotten its claw hooks on something potentially golden.  So with a message that could make a difference skeptically, what did they do with it?

Time to Feed the Geek!

A lot really. Not everything was to my liking. Bear in mind I’m not a person who like musicals anyway. I find that nothing disturbs a good dramatic premise more than when main characters who are decent actors build up the belief in what they are doing, only to have that belief shattered when they suddenly break into a song. Barring that, this production is definitely worth seeing if you are a fan or familiar with the story. Many of this production’s key scenes were taken almost verbatim from the film script. That was a pleasant surprise. The sets were nicely done with beautiful side-show banners festooning the walls. Costumes: great. Lighting and music: great. The feel of the gritty side-show mood was well rendered.

Stan gets a Reading

I did miss a few characters from the film, most notably: Bruno the Strongman. In the film, this character was type-cast to perfection by ex-pro wrestler Mike Mazurki. In that role, he played an important part as the female lead’s guardian/protector, who kept the maniacal mentalist’s sexual advances under control. Bruno symbolized a sort of moral underpinning that was still present in the musical, but without having an actual character to play it out, was not as strongly reinforced. The moral angle was suggested here and there; and there was certainly no quarter given to the religious aspects of the main character’s greed.  Some sections of the original story were re-organized, left out and a few liberties were taken with the original material. Unless you were a completest like me, it didn’t matter. I’m sure 90% of the audience could have cared less.

One thing that irked me a bit was this: if you are going to mount a period piece (in this case the Great Depression) please refrain from throwing in contemporary wording and phrases. It kills the momentum and tone of the whole thing. I realize we may be in another Great Depression right now, but when I see a play or something like this, I want to totally immerse myself in the time and place the director is suggesting. Hearing dialogue from later eras kills that nuance. For example: I really doubt that back then what a psychic did was known by the term “cold reading,” which was bandied about frequently. I don’t think that term came into usage until after mentalist Robert Nelson published his seminal works on the subject in the early 50’s. Other asides and comments made by various characters seemed oddly ad-libbed and similarly distracting. The second act was much better than the first and kudos to Larry Cedar who played Pete the mentalist , the Sheriff and Addie Peabody and Michael McCarty as Clem and Ezra Grimble. Both actors were finely-tuned and believable.

So what does this musical have to do with skepticism? Plenty. The theme of psychic cons, cold reading, people needing someone to relate and talk to and other facets of what makes people believe in weird things was powerfully portrayed, despite the songs and dances. With a little reading between the lines, the message was clear: Nothing has changed. “Nightmare Alley – the Musical” shows us that the same frauds and phony mediumship that started with the Fox Sisters and carried on through the 30’s right up to today’s talk-to-the-dead vultures like Sylvia Browne, Chip Coffey and Robbie Thomas has always been with us and is still alive and flourishing. When recession turns into depression and economies get worse and worse, these pariahs come out of the woodwork. The parallels between yesterday’s religious tent revivals and today’s millionaire televangelists was underscored by a hilarious gospel number “Cross that River” that really nailed that whole glorious manipulation. Give me that ol’ time religion…gimme, gimme, gimme.

The Final Seance and Spirit Cabinet

There were even a few “skeptical” songs that I think should be mentioned. One number that caught my attention was “Science,” which slightly deviated from the original novel and film by injecting the idea that at that time in American history, because of Darwin’s influence, anything that could be hyped-up with a “sciencey” patina was popular. The main character Stanton Carlisle (James Barbour) does this with his mentalism act.  A nice touch that is not too different from how we see happening today in slimy groups like the ESP Bookcamp phonies or woo “paranormal investigation” websites that link up their shtick with Carlos Castaneda, Bucky Fuller and John Lilly to snare their clients. In a crash course in mediumship, another song “Human Nature” used about three short minutes to perfectly encapsulate cold reading. It was delightful. That alone is worth the price of admission.

No more spoilers. I’m happy to report that the denouement stayed true to the novel and not the film version. A much better choice and one that will stick in the minds of anyone who sees this musical for a long time.

On a scale of 10, I rate it a 7.5

Early Gresham's Nightmare Pulp