Friday, March 06, 2009

Amazing (Gruesome) Magic Up Close!!

Barry Jones & Stuart McLeod look like your regular British blokes.. they're two magicians-comedians that could pull the most wicked, dark and gory tricks! And most of the time, funny and hilarious too!

They brilliantly combined amazing illusions with side-splitting comedy that make their show really entertaining. True, some may say they aint David Copperfield.. but the duo had crafted their uniqueness in every sense.

I have not watched magic show for a long long time. I had the privilege to catch David Copperfield when he came to KL many years ago.. and also watched him on TV before. I never thought I was a fan of magic.


However I was quite bowed over by what I saw in `Wicked Wizards: Barry & Stuart's Part-Time Warlocks'. Twice actually.. and I will get to watch it again, since I'm helping out Gardner & Wife Theatre on a part-time basis.

A word of warning to those who are squeamish.. you'll witness live lots of gross and gory acts to with the body parts - like cutting throat with a string, swallowing and spitting out razor blades, tube inserted into the nose, needle in the eye etc.. ya, you get the picture. Oh, not to mention (fake) blood oozing out everywhere!


I was sitting right on top of the opening night. But since tonight there were quite a lot of empty seats, I decided to have a closer view, and sat at seventh row from the front. I had to use my bag to half cover my eyes when Barry tried to cut his tongue with a razor blade!!

And then the unexpected happened.. Stuart skipped the first few rows and walked up to pick me to join them on stage. I knew what trick that was.. it's supposed to be teaching the audience some `after-dinner tricks' to impress their dates - but it was a gross one!!

Of course, it was mean to be funny.. and gruesome. After some silly pick-up lines like `Oh, do you like sharp objects like knife, needles.. etc. etc..' to which I said `yes', he took out a huge pin (looked more like a nail) and then proceeded to drill it through his tongue!! And he dragged me very close to him, forcing me to see it! Knowing that it's not real is one thing, but I was still squeamish. He then used a string to loop around the needle and made me pull it.. and then the tongue fell out!! yes, it's a fake tongue..

The next trick was not better. Stuart took a needle and poke it into the edge of his right eye and then pushed the needle underneath his skin and then squeezed it out from the left eye! He even took my hand to feel the hard needle beneath the skin... and as it (pretend to) push and squeeze, (fake) blood oozed out of his nostril.. Eeek! I didn't want to look!! It was pretty disgusting - though thank goodness I knew what to expect since I've watched it.

There were many more interesting tricks and almost all of them involved audience participation. Which made their magic more `real'. There was a real funny one where a `victim' became the curse of the voodoo doll.. pain was inflicted on him when the magician tried to do something to a doll! I spoke to that `victim' later and he just didn't know what happened but felt like he was `zap' at his butt!

Their illusions were so seamless, the props were minimal and many times, they had audience just right next to them as they did magic. It really got me wondreing how on earth did they do it?? But again, if I could figure out, then they won't be putting up the show!

Some of their tricks include: throwing a bottle of water in the air and when you catch it, it turns into wine - tasted by audience as well; a `miracle rope' which can be broken and then joined back at different places; a hand that goes through the body. But they also throw in some silly jokes and antics that had the audience in stitches. Even second time watching, I still laughed.

But I'm going to sit right at the back if I were watching it again...

Ya, off stage, they're just like any regular blokes.. very friendly and unassuming too! Oh, and Stuart said he picked me because he saw me hiding behind my bag! Wicked indeed!! :p

Click here for more info on the show, or check out Barry & Stuart's official website

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

whoa! wish i was there to see your stage antics. :-)
on a more serious note, it is good to see you back to your usual go-getting self after your recent bereavement. rock on, babe!

essey