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You can’t ignore these two words: naked magicians. No, it isn’t a boudoir inspired show on the fringes of town. This entertaining spectacle is appearing this month at DPAC, and attendees can expect hearty laughs and saucy magic from Australian duo Christopher Wayne and Mike Tyler.
Wayne and Tyler both started off as professional (clothed) magicians. Wayne was the first Australian magician in TV history to have his own series, “More Than Magic,” which aired in Australia, New Zealand, England and the U.S., while Tyler performed hundreds of magic shows on TV and for corporate clients and sports teams. The duo met on a show and quickly became close friends, which Wayne credits as one reason why the audience is drawn to their camaraderie. “We honestly are best mates; you’re not watching two actors on stage,” he says.
But how did two clothed magicians decide to take it all off on stage? It started with the movie “Magic Mike.” “Mike, my costar, is obviously named Mike and he does magic so people started making jokes—can you make your clothes disappear? We used to laugh about it.”
The off-the-cuff comments sparked an interesting idea—what if the two created a naughty magic show? They decided to put the concept to the test, but it wasn’t the easiest of transitions. The two had to overcome their own inhibitions, both mental and physical. Wayne has lost 80 pounds since starting the show in an effort to get in top shape for the stage.
They developed the show through trial and error, but right from the start it struck a chord with audiences. “Every single person has that naughty side; we had to embrace that sense of vulnerability,” says Wayne. It’s taken the duo about 440 shows across 45 cities to polish their act while also keeping it fresh.
But their real talent isn’t in taking off their clothes. The magicians are serious about performing strong magic tricks and striking the right balance between sexiness and humor. “The balance of funny versus sexy is incredibly difficult,” says Wayne. “We have spent a very long time crafting that balance. We do pride the show on being hilarious, but we also love driving our audiences wild. We didn’t want to look like one of these male revue shows. But we wanted to be as sexy as we were charming as we were funny as we were magical.”
And, of course, the fact that they are Australian gives them a head start when it comes to sex appeal. Wayne laughs: “We are 110 percent aware about how Americans feel about Aussie accents.”
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