Topdog/Underdog

     There are two mirrors in Topdog/Underdog that should be noted. The first is the Lincoln and Booth parallel between the brothers and the historical characters. Lincoln plays an actor that that plays Abraham Lincoln and allows patrons to assassinate him for money. At the end of the play, Booth kills his brother in order to be on top again and to make a name for himself in a game called 3-card monte. The characters match the mirror in their name as well as in their actions.
     The card game is another type of performance and a deception in how it is played. There are multiple players in the card game including a dealer and others that make the game look enticing. They sometimes win and sometimes lose, but are in the know how of the game. The mark loses money with the false hopes built by the inside player. At the same time though the individual is entertained.
     In either scenario the mark or patron is made to feel that they have power, or chance of winning something. Of course the performance is a deception. The mark is likely to lose their money in the process of playing the game despite the perspective that they could actually win. Similarly the patrons of the Lincoln assassination skit are given a false sense of power in their role as John Wilkes Booth. In the end, Lincoln still gets their money. The different between the two mirrors is that acting is legal, hustling was not.