Lessons from the Way of the Showman - 52

"The rise of modern showbiz began during the seventeenth century, alongside the beginnings of a decline in the power of the Church. It was no coincidence. Prior to that time, the people's entertainment was despised and repressed by the ecclesiastical authorities. Their attitude did not change, they just gradually lost the power to enforce their prejudice. What was it about the medieval jugglers, minstrels, acrobats and rope-dancers that the Church found so objectionable? Did the churchmen suspect that these merry pleasures were the left-overs of an older religion, the remnants of ta once powerful and ancient magical tradition?"

"In order to penetrate the mysteries of showbusiness, we must begin somewhere near the beginnings of human culture. For modern showbiz is, in reality, a huge disguise. It is not as it appears to be..."

Rogan Taylor