TITLE: Tricking Power into Performing Acts of Love
AUTHOR: Dr Shepherd Siegel
PUBLISHER: Morgan James
ISBN: 9781631957307
PODCAST EPISODE: Episode 126
REVIEWER: Hilary Wilson
Shepherd Siegel presents his idea of what the act of play can offer the world in his 2018 book Disruptive Play: The Trickster in Politics and Culture. He outlines the various forms of play that are commonly accepted within the world, and how non-competitive play benefits both the individual and the community. Moreover, he shows how disruptive play can be used to reintroduce that non-competitive spirit back into life as a whole. All of these ideas are further expanded upon in his 2022 book Tricking Power into Performing Acts of Love.
Siegel is a rollicking, ribald author whose energy is infectious. There is a sense of timelessness to his characterization of people long passed, such as the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, and Mae West. Siegel has a gift for cutting to the very heart of what makes people special. That skill coupled with his grasp of language and passion for the ideas he presents leave even the most cynical reader with a changed perspective of the world.
Siegel’s past as an activist, musician, and teacher all come through within his writing. He defines the archetypal Trickster succinctly, and conveys it to the reader through the people who have exemplified this in culture. Figures such as Buster Keaton, Muhammad Ali, Yoko Ono, and the Marx Brothers (a four-headed trickster, how often do you see them singularly after all?) are likely familiar to anyone approaching this text. Lesser known figures such as Mae West or the Signifyin(g) Monkey will soon be spotted everywhere once the reader learns how to recognize them.
This book focuses primarily upon how the ancient Trickster Esu Elegba is still seen today within African communities, as well as how female Tricksters might manifest. Esu Elegba’s legacy is infused throughout modern culture, perhaps most beautifully through visions of Afrofuturism as seen through the musicians inspired by Sun Ra. The female Trickster, while a bit more occluded, is starting to have her day as more take an interest in her work. Yoko Ono, perhaps, best encompasses her playful sincerity as she pokes fun at power while tricking it into performing acts of love. What was her and Lennon’s Bed-In, after all, but a joke that forced all media outlets to focus on the Vietnam War at a time when celebrity reporting preferred to share news of lipstick shades and affairs?
Siegel’s vision for the future is a beautiful thing, and he conveys it with humor and a wink. We should all be so lucky to live in the world that he sees for us, where pranks are not cruel but are endlessly funny and thought provoking, and joy is always within reach.
AUTHOR: Dr Shepherd Siegel
PUBLISHER: Morgan James
ISBN: 9781631957307
PODCAST EPISODE: Episode 126
REVIEWER: Hilary Wilson
Shepherd Siegel presents his idea of what the act of play can offer the world in his 2018 book Disruptive Play: The Trickster in Politics and Culture. He outlines the various forms of play that are commonly accepted within the world, and how non-competitive play benefits both the individual and the community. Moreover, he shows how disruptive play can be used to reintroduce that non-competitive spirit back into life as a whole. All of these ideas are further expanded upon in his 2022 book Tricking Power into Performing Acts of Love.
Siegel is a rollicking, ribald author whose energy is infectious. There is a sense of timelessness to his characterization of people long passed, such as the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, and Mae West. Siegel has a gift for cutting to the very heart of what makes people special. That skill coupled with his grasp of language and passion for the ideas he presents leave even the most cynical reader with a changed perspective of the world.
Siegel’s past as an activist, musician, and teacher all come through within his writing. He defines the archetypal Trickster succinctly, and conveys it to the reader through the people who have exemplified this in culture. Figures such as Buster Keaton, Muhammad Ali, Yoko Ono, and the Marx Brothers (a four-headed trickster, how often do you see them singularly after all?) are likely familiar to anyone approaching this text. Lesser known figures such as Mae West or the Signifyin(g) Monkey will soon be spotted everywhere once the reader learns how to recognize them.
This book focuses primarily upon how the ancient Trickster Esu Elegba is still seen today within African communities, as well as how female Tricksters might manifest. Esu Elegba’s legacy is infused throughout modern culture, perhaps most beautifully through visions of Afrofuturism as seen through the musicians inspired by Sun Ra. The female Trickster, while a bit more occluded, is starting to have her day as more take an interest in her work. Yoko Ono, perhaps, best encompasses her playful sincerity as she pokes fun at power while tricking it into performing acts of love. What was her and Lennon’s Bed-In, after all, but a joke that forced all media outlets to focus on the Vietnam War at a time when celebrity reporting preferred to share news of lipstick shades and affairs?
Siegel’s vision for the future is a beautiful thing, and he conveys it with humor and a wink. We should all be so lucky to live in the world that he sees for us, where pranks are not cruel but are endlessly funny and thought provoking, and joy is always within reach.