RAYMOND CROWE is back in his new live show The Illusionists 2.0
After last year’s sell-out tour
AUSTRALIAN magician Raymond Crowe sees himself as a performer, rather than a trickster.
The entertainer, known for his Vaudevillian-style mix of ventriloquism, mime, comedy and illusion, stars in the new live show The Illusionists 2.0.
Crowe was the only Aussie performer chosen by the show’s producers for the sequel to last year’s sell-out tour.
The Adelaide native says it’s easy for both the public and magicians to get caught up in the mechanics of magic tricks, rather than enjoying the wonder.
“If you know the punch line it doesn’t necessarily make you a good joke teller,” he told APN.
“Just knowing how a trick works isn’t really how the trick works. It’s the performer who makes the magic happen for the viewer.
“Magic is a performance art, for me anyway. My secret learning was a long time ago. Now I try to work on how I can use that to tell a story or an idea.”
Like so many children, Crowe’s fascination with magic started when he was given a magic kit as a gift.
“When I started it was very difficult to get information on how stuff works,” he said.
“I used to go to the South Australian State Library where they only had books from 1910, which was great because I went from the bottom up if you like.”
As a novice magician Crowe reached out to legendary Adelaide illusionist Gene Raymond.
“He was real old-school; he learned during the Depression from one little book on card tricks,” he said.
“He was quite cagey… he’d never tell you too much. He believed if you get everything at once you don’t appreciate it and I think that’s true.”
But Crowe credits his skills as a performer and entertainer to the tutelage of Zora Semberova, a mime teacher and former Czech ballerina best known for dancing as the first Juliet to Prokoviev’s score for Romeo and Juliet.
“She gave me a theatrical base for a whole bunch of techniques,” he said.
“She said ‘Why should I watch something I think I could do? You have to believe it otherwise we won’t’.”
Crowe’s signature routine is his hand shadows, which he has performed for The Queen at the Royal Variety Show.
“Every country performs hand shadows,” he said.
“There’s something so primeval almost about them. Shadows are built into the way animals recognise danger.
“People always come up to me (after shows) and tell me stories like ‘Oh my dad used to do that for me’. There’s an innocence to it that isn’t lost.”
Crowe shares The Illusionists 2.0 bill with Portugal’s “Master Magician” Luis De Matos, America’s singing and dancing illusionist Adam Trent, Belgium’s daredevil Aaron Crow, Las Vegas hypnotist Dr Scott Lewis, British “Deceptionist” James More and South Korean sleight-of-hand master Yu Ho-Jin.
“I’m a solo performer; I very rarely work with other performers, so what’s great for me is the camaraderie,” he said.
“You get to talk shop; you understand the same language. When I grew up I didn’t have anybody to talk to (about magic). For me it’s great to see how other people approach the same subject.”
“Aaron came over to my house the other night and it was so nice to be talking to somebody not interested in methods but the whys.”
He believes magic is enjoying a resurgence, both on the stage and on the screen in television and movies, because it still offers mystery in the information age.
“We’re living in a time where everything is known, and the wonder is explained,” he said.
“Yes people can enjoy watching a pet dog doing a funny trick (online) but this is happening live. It’s also one of the few forms of performing arts that run across all ages. Intellectually, people can try to work it out, but you can sit there with a child of five and a person of 95 and they can both go ‘ah’.”
The Illusionists 2.0 opens at QPAC in Brisbane on January 19.