Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
The Naked Magicians are a lethal cocktail of comedy magician Jeff Hobson mixed with young and buffed stripper guys, and topped with a fluffy bunny and tall hat. Their sell out shows around
Australia left audiences wanting more magic and cheeky adult humour.
Naked Magicians at the Adelaide Fringe Festival / Photo courtesy of Adelaide Fringe
These are two professionals who have travelled the globe fine-tuning their craft for many years. Christopher Wayne furthered his knack of making biscuits disappear in Arnott's into an art with over 200 international magic shows a year by his late twenties. He was also the comedy writer at the B105FM Breakfast Show for four years. Mike Tyler swapped dreams of professional swimming and a banking career for mental hypnosis, sleight of hand and comedy. He has performed over 250 shows a year by the age of 30. Christopher is now one of Australia's leading entertainers and Mike is one of the best close-up magicians in the country.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
I caught up with the entertaining duo in an interview to find out what makes them tick, and like any good investigative host in a suit on a really late late night show, uncover the secrets that keep their sleeves up and pants down.
1. What made you guys decide to get into magic?
For both of us, we had loved magic all of our lives. It wasn't until we became adults and had regular jobs that we realised that the love of magic was still in us. I [Christopher] was making biscuits for a living and Mike was a banker. We both took our interests and turned them in to hobbies, then our hobbies became our jobs.
Hanging out with Hughesy in Adelaide / Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
Christopher: My Mum was actually pretty cool about it. I was raised by an amazing Mum who believes that your worth isn't based on what you do for a living, but with the passion that you live. She took me to my first ever magic show, so she is kind of guilty of planting the seed in the first place.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
For us, the most important thing in magic is not tricking people, but entertaining them. There is no greater entertainer than David Copperfield, who showed both of us that magic is so much more than the tricks. Jeff Hobson is an amazing legend in magic who is perhaps the funniest man on the planet. I [Christopher] was lucky enough to tour with him in The Illusionists and watch him combine magic and comedy perfectly every single night.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
You can blame the movie "Magic Mike". We would do our gigs, and all of a sudden people were asking us all of these cheeky magic questions: "How big is your wand?", "Can you make your clothes disappear?". So we would compare stories and then asked the question, "What would it look like if Magic Mike actually had Magic in it?" We realised nobody had ever combined magic with that funny, cheeky, sexy, naughty side that we all have inside of us.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
They can expect to see the worlds funniest, naughtiest, and sexiest magic show. That's a big cheque to write, but we live and breathe this show making it the most that it can be. They can also expect audience participation. We have a new routine that involves every single person in the theatre, where the magic happens in their hands, in their seats. It's amazing. We just created a new finale which we have performed twice, and it's possibly the funniest thing we have ever been a part of. The audience screams every time.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
We have been so blessed to sell out every single show so far, and are enjoying the ride and the smiles we are putting on peoples faces. We have had some amazing international offers which we are working on. We don't care where in the world we are, we are happiest on stage, in our birthday suits, doing magic, making people laugh.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Klingner Entertainment Enterprises
Produced by Samuel Klingner whose accolades include showcases, musicals, children's theatre shows and touring productions throughout
Australia and the world, the Naked Magicians show promises more skin and comedy. Following sold out shows in
Sydney,
Gold Coast, Newcastle, Cairns, the Adelaide Fringe and Brisbane Comedy Festivals, the world's boldest and cheekiest magic show returns to Visy Theatre in Brisbane Powerhouse this June for a strictly limited season. Grab your tickets now before they evaporate into thin air or turn into a stuffed bunny.
