Upcoming Champions of Magic Canadian tour dates:
- 12/8/19 Brandon, MB
- 12/12/19 Ottawa, ON <<< ** recent addition **
- 12/14/19 Oshawa, ON
- 12/15/19 Laval, QC
- 1/16/20 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
- 1/17/20 Regina, SK Conexus Arts Centre
- 1/26/20 Prince George, BC
- 2/29/20 Rama, ON <<< ** recent addition **
Read more and buy tickets.
You may remember the fabulous interview, "A peek behind the curtain with Young and Strange," from December of last year. I was delighted to receive an invitation to take a second pass at an email interview with Richard Young (one half of Young and Strange) as part of a Champions of Magic promotion.
Many of you already know Young through his podcast, "The Magician's Podcast." He's interviewed a handful of Canadians including Darcy Oake, Billy Kidd, and Greg Frewin. Last June, Young aired an epic 100th (and final) episode, where he interviewed his magic idol David Copperfield. The Magic Circle recently recognized the outstanding contribution to magic made by Young through his podcast.
From the Magicians' Podcast Twitter feed:
Thanks to everyone who was involved in me being presented with this award for the podcast last night by The Magic Circle.— The Magicians’ Podcast (@MagicianPodcast) September 2, 2019
I’m absolutely chuffed to bits. pic.twitter.com/ZZoWzVfiFV
You've toured a number of countries. Have you experienced anything specific about Canadian audiences in particular?
I think the shows we did in Toronto last Christmas were some of the best shows we have ever done in our six year history. We did so many shows back to back and it was really hard work however the enthusiastic audiences kept us going and our spirits high. I think enthusiasm and energy is what I notice specifically about the Canadian audiences.
Do you have any advice for touring magicians?
My top tip for other touring magicians is to buy more underwear, washing machines are hard to find on tour sometimes.
My top tip for other touring magicians is to buy more underwear, washing machines are hard to find on tour sometimes.
Touring with Champions of Magic has been the greatest adventure of my life. I remember arriving in North America with the show for the first time in September 2017 about to embark on our first US Tour, it was one of the most thrilling times of my life. I couldn’t believe we had finally made it to America, it had been secretly talked about for a couple of years and I was worried it might never happen. Two days after we arrived we threw out the first pitch at a Cleveland Indians game in front of 30000 people to help promote the show. It really felt like we had ‘arrived in that second.’
What interests do you have outside of magic?
I am a huge Musical Theatre fan, I saw both Come From Away and Hamilton last week here in the U.K, I can’t get enough of Come From Away it was the 4th time I have seen it, the London cast are extraordinary.
I also have a weird life long obsession with the Titanic Disaster and know an awful lot about it, from design and conception through to the inquiries that followed the sinking and also how the wreck was found in 1985. If you’re ever struggling to sleep, give me a call and I’ll talk you through Lord Mersey’s inquiry, it was an absolute cluster f**k.
I am a huge Musical Theatre fan, I saw both Come From Away and Hamilton last week here in the U.K, I can’t get enough of Come From Away it was the 4th time I have seen it, the London cast are extraordinary.
I also have a weird life long obsession with the Titanic Disaster and know an awful lot about it, from design and conception through to the inquiries that followed the sinking and also how the wreck was found in 1985. If you’re ever struggling to sleep, give me a call and I’ll talk you through Lord Mersey’s inquiry, it was an absolute cluster f**k.
What do you do to keep your performance fresh for both your audience and you?
The fact we are facing forward and talking to the audience as opposed to being in scene or play where we pretend the audience isn’t there means the interaction with the audience will help to keep it fresh night after night. There are a few exercises taught to us by our director which we do during long runs to make sure we are still ‘in the room’ while the show is going on. The same sort of techniques they teach to actors and musical theatre performers on Broadway who do the same role every night in the same theatres for sometimes a couple of years in a row.
If you could be endowed with the talent to take on any Broadway role past or present, who would you pick?
I fantasise about being Javert from Les Miserable quite a bit, however I think if I’m being honest with myself I probably suit Thernadier more. I think I would also be a good Monsier Firmin in Phantom too.
Could Young play Javert?
Listen to Richard Young interview Andy Nyman in episode 85 and you be the judge. (The whole interview is fabulous, but the Javert part in particular comes shortly after the 1:14 mark.)
Listen to what Irish tenor Killian Donnelly thinks. Donnelly recently appeared in a West End production of Les Mis as Jean Valjean.
Listen to Richard Young interview Andy Nyman in episode 85 and you be the judge. (The whole interview is fabulous, but the Javert part in particular comes shortly after the 1:14 mark.)
Listen to what Irish tenor Killian Donnelly thinks. Donnelly recently appeared in a West End production of Les Mis as Jean Valjean.
I know all the words to both parts already so if anyone is reading this looking to fill those parts let me know. I would drop Champions of Magic like a sack of s**t to be in either of those two shows,
this may seem in written published form as a kinda bizarre form of career suicide from Champions however I know Alex the producer of our show wouldn’t take offense to my remarks and if anything would encourage me too do it, he loves both shows as much as I do and would completely understand.
[Editor's note: We certainly hope Alex is as understanding as you say he is!]
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If you haven’t seen Champions of Magic before, I do really think you’d enjoy spending an evening with us.
If you’re a magician, you won’t like everything you see, however I promise you will love some stuff and have a great time slagging off the stuff you didn’t, so you have nothing to lose, I hope to see you at one of the shows.
If you’re a magician, you won’t like everything you see, however I promise you will love some stuff and have a great time slagging off the stuff you didn’t, so you have nothing to lose, I hope to see you at one of the shows.
Thank you Richard Young of Young and Strange for making the time to answer more of our questions!
Catch the Champions of Magic on tour in Canada!
Upcoming Champions of Magic Canadian tour dates:
- 12/8/19 Brandon, MB
- 12/12/19 Ottawa, ON <<< ** recent addition **
- 12/14/19 Oshawa, ON
- 12/15/19 Laval, QC
- 1/16/20 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
- 1/17/20 Regina, SK Conexus Arts Centre
- 1/26/20 Prince George, BC
- 2/29/20 Rama, ON <<< ** recent addition **
Read more and buy tickets.
