Ian Saville is a performer, magician and ventriloquist who has been practising socialist magic for over 40 years. Rooted in the radical theatre and alternative cabaret movements of the 1970s and 80s, Ian has developed a unique act that uses the language of magic and illusion to explore left-wing politics, class struggle and social history. He performs with a ventriloquist dummy of Karl Marx and has shared stages with performers including Ben Elton and Linda Smith.
In this episode of Variety, Ian Saville joins us to explore a life spent finding the politics in magic and the magic in politics. The conversation moves through his Jewish upbringing in Whitechapel, his schooling at Hackney Downs alongside the influence of playwright Harold Pinter, his early obsession with magic shops and Tommy Cooper, and his years with the radical theatre group Broadside Mobile Workers Theater. Ian also reflects on the alternative cabaret scene, the question of whether art can change minds, and why he has spent four decades performing tricks that make audiences think as well as laugh. Along the way, he performs the Class Struggle rope trick live, teaches the host a knot, and brings out Karl Marx for a word or two.
00:00 — Opening performance: socialist magic and left-wing splits
01:26 — Growing up Jewish in Whitechapel
04:37 — Hackney Downs School, Harold Pinter and Joe Brearley
06:18 — Falling in love with magic: books, shops and West End dealers
09:25 — Butlins, Tommy Cooper and learning comedy magic
16:12 — University, acting and using magic as an audition piece
18:08 — Jewish pantomime and collaborative theatre
22:22 — The origins of socialist magic and Broadside Mobile Workers Theater
24:33 — Preaching to the converted and engaging workers through drama
28:57 — The Torn and Restored Newspaper: a trick about political splits
30:55 — Teaching the host a rope trick live
35:35 — Karl Marx speaks: ventriloquism and socialist history
41:11 — Alternative cabaret, Ben Elton and Linda Smith
43:31 — The Class Struggle rope trick performed in full
48:30 — Art, politics and the shows that followed
51:11 — Activism, Palestine and what is next