If the idea of a bisexual magic show intrigues you, then you’re in the right place.
Bisexual activist Marcus Morgan is hosting one of those exactly.
This isn’t his first time putting on a show about bisexuality however.
Morgan started by creating ‘CaBiRet’ in September 2016.
Morgan realized a month and a half before Bi Visibility day there were no events near him he was interested in.
He’d just been to a cabaret night at BiCon, so knew there were people out there who could perform.
Morgan is also a professional magician himself, and wanted to try combining his activism with his job.
He had been given the details of a pub in London that had Sunday nights free.
CaBiRet night
The pub was busy on Bi Visibility Day itself (a Saturday), but they could offer the following Sunday.
Morgan told Gay Star News: ‘”For free” is like a magical spell to a bisexual activist. I knew then I had to do it.
‘People quickly came forward to offer performances. Over the years I’ve built up a repertoire of magic tricks that are bisexuality related.
‘When I realized I had enough for a show I took the plan off of the back burner.’
The show itself is a variety night full of bisexual poetry, bisexual comedy, bisexual music and singing.
The audience itself isn’t entirely bisexual, with a lot of people bringing along friends and partners.
Morgan does provide some bisexual magic too!
He adds: ‘It’s a remarkable thing to finally see your identity reflected in a performance, something I think gay people have started to forget as gay performance has moved out of the pubs and into the mainstream.’
The night is also free to attend thanks to having the venue for free.
The event is described as a ‘space for bisexual+ people to escape the monosexual media and see their lives and experiences reflected on the stage.’
CaBiRet returns to The Cavendish Arms in Stockwell, London on March 4th.
Photo: Supplied
Bisexuality is Magic
Now Morgan is taking the next step and putting on a bisexual magic show!
Bisexuality is Magic is the name of the show.
You might ask, why magic? Why not puppetry, acting or more singing?
‘It’s also acting,’ Morgan told GSN. ‘The show is a cross between a play and a performance.
‘I have ideas about how to bring puppetry in but they’ve had to wait for a later iteration.
‘If I put al the stuff I wanted to do in the show it’d last four hours and my director would be very unhappy with me!’
Unfortunately there will be no singing because Morgan ‘cannot singing to save his life.’
However he does add: ‘There may some dance in the show but, well – I wouldn’t want to spoil all my surprises…’
Magic over the evening is done with real audience members and not actors.
Morgan explains: ‘I know a lot of people get tired of the nights out their gay and straight co-workers and friends want to have as outings.
‘Gay or straight comedy clubs don’t really deal well with bisexuality – we’re often the punchline, and it’s punching down.
‘So what I want is to create something that people can bring people to and then go away knowing that while they’ve had a great night, been baffled by the magic and laughed a lot at the jokes, they’ve also maybe learned something.’
Photo: Supplied
‘Something different’
Bisexuality is Magic is the story a magician trying to find the perfect trick to explain bisexuality to people.
Morgan is currently in talks with other venues about futures dates. The show will have his first performances in Croydon, London in April 2018.
The current venue has agreed to a matinee and evening performance on the same day.
Morgan adds: ‘This means we can do something different to the usual “people turn up, see show, go home.”
‘Between the two performances we’re going to have a bisexual community market, with people from around the UK bi+ community on site to promote their own projects.
‘If you’ve never encountered the bi+ community then this will be a great chance to do so.’
Bisexuality is Magic premiers at Matthews Yard in Croydon, London on 14 April.
Photo: Supplied
Marcus Morgan, bisexual magician
Marcus Morgan is an avid magician and bisexual activist.
He first came out in the 1980’s.
Morgan says his coming out story showcases ‘how all bisexuals approach their sexuality differently.’
He originally came out as gay.
‘I did all of the coming out twice, and although my parents had some worries about what being gay would mean for my happiness everyone else was cool about it,’ the activist continued.
When he first started to find other genders apart from men attractive, he contacted the helpline now called Switchboard.
It was originally called the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard.
They put him in touch with the London Bisexual Group. They met every Friday in the Kings Cross area.
‘Coming out as bi is harder because bisexuals have to keep coming out again and again,’ Morgan explains.
‘People see your partner and forget you’d said you were bi – they just figure you’ve “decided” to be gay or straight now.’
He adds: ‘I think that’s why people who aren’t bi make such a big deal about it when a bi person stops dating someone from one gender and starts seeing someone from a different one.
‘To them something big has changed, but to us it’s probably about something entirely unrelated to the genders involved.’
Morgan says it is an ‘amazing feeling’ to be in a room full of people all different and diverse, and yet on the same page.
He describes the LGBT community as ‘used to being in the same book, if we’re lucky in the same chapter.’
A room full of bi+ people however means ‘people who aren’t bi+ get to see us as the wide range of humans we are too!’
