Wednesday February 25, 2009
Barry & Stuart's wacky wizardry
By SHARMILLA GANESAN
This is no Copperfield act but one with dark and hilarious antics all rolled into one. Welcome to the world of Barry & Stuart.
They've unleashed the Biblical plagues on a couple of unsuspecting women. They sometimes conjure up a ghost onstage.
They’ve even walked on water. And lest things get a little too serious, they do it all with a wacky and irreverent sense of humour.
Meet Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod, two Scottish blokes who tread the tightrope between magic and comedy.
Calling themselves Barry & Stuart, these two magicians are out to change the way magic is performed. And in their upcoming Kuala Lumpur performance called Wicked Wizards, they are raring to show Malaysians just what they can do.
“Hopefully you will find us surprising, amazing and funny,” said Jones, 26, in an e-mail interview. “There is a little bit of gore too, so a couple of people may want to watch from in between their fingers sometimes!”
The two then proceeded to rattle off a list of tricks we can expect (though it’s anyone’s guess whether they were being serious or not!).
Comedian-magicians Stuart McLeod (left) and Barry Jones will be performing in Wicked Wizards at KLPac from March 3 to 15. “We will put a voodoo curse on an audience member, so that he/she feels pain inflicted on a voodoo doll,” said MacLeod, 28. “We’re also going to eat razorblades and play with sharp objects.”
“Oh, and we teach the audience a trick that they can use to help them attract members of the opposite sex,” said Jones (this might prove to be quite popular).
If you haven’t guessed already, Barry & Stuart aren’t your typical, mysterious and stiff upper-lipped magicians. Instead, their hilarious back-and-forths and glib jokes make them seem more like stand-up comedians.
They also often dress up in zany costumes and play quirky characters, weaving their jaw-dropping magic feats into a storyline.
McLeod explained that they try to have a strong story to their tricks.
“We like to come up with reasons for the magic to happen,” he said.
The duo’s partnership began more than 10 years ago. The magic-crazy teenagers met at a magic circle event and immediately loathed the sight of each other. However, realising that all the other magicians there were at least five times their age, the two decided to team up.
Since then, McLeod and Jones have picked up a string of titles, including several Young Magician of the Year awards. Their first TV series, Magick, was nominated as Best Comedy Series of 2004 in the International Television Awards in Montreaux, Switzerland. Their 2006 TV special, Tricks from the Bible, was also nominated for Best Performance at the Scottish BAFTAs.
Part of Barry & Stuart’s appeal is that they don’t set themselves above the audience; it’s not our “Oohs!” and “Aahs!” that they’re after.
“Most magicians are very egotistical and have the attitude of ‘Look what I can do that you can’t. Aren’t I clever?’,” said MacLeod. “We try and take that element out of what we do.”
Jones added that their previous experiences working in comedy clubs came in handy to create a unique act.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously, even when we do our ‘darker’ pieces where the stage blood starts flowing. We try to inject as much humour as we can into our shows.”
In fact, more than anything, Barry & Stuart bring to mind the broadly physical and enjoyable vaudeville acts of the early 1900s, albeit with a darker edge. McLeod and Jones are not ones to shy away from a bit of horror; eating razor blades and sawing each other into pieces may be the norm in magic shows, but here, with copious amounts of fake blood spewing around, the acts look decidedly gory.
Their devil-may-care attitude and willingness to take risks, however, have also brought a fair bit of criticism their way. After all, not many performers have recreated illusions based on miracles from the Bible.
Tricks from the Bible and their 2005 TV special Magic of Jesus, which included tricks like walking on water, turning water into wine and feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fishes, attracted a large number of complaints.
The pair’s use of occult elements, like voodoo and curses, added to their reputation. They even have the dubious distinction of making it onto the list of 20-most-complained-about programmes on British TV.
They stressed, however, that their acts have more to do with their interest in the Bible than stirring up controversy.
“We have both always been fascinated with the Bible and the stories in it. Years ago, we were interested in how occult spells and rituals could be faked for theatrical reasons. This way, you could give the impression that you were doing ‘real’ magic,” said MacLeod.
“We took the same logic and applied it to the miracles from the Bible,” added Jones. “It was certainly one of the most ambitious projects we’ve done.”
Perhaps the best way to look at Barry & Stuart is as a product of our times – magicians who bring together popular culture, mythology, miracles and horror in one neat, side-splitting package.
“We grew up on a diet of cartoons, horror movies, 8-bit computer games, bizarre electronic music and Edgar Allan Poe. All that blends itself together and just comes out naturally,” said MacLeod.
“Magic has a reputation of being a safe and colourful field of children’s entertainment,” added Jones.
“We wanted to get away from that. We examine what it would be like if people had strange powers or curses put on them. Magic is a great way to explore that dark side.”
Wicked Wizards, presented by Gardner & Wife Theatre, will run from March 3 to 15 at Pentas 1, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre. Ticket prices start at RM48. For more information, call the box office at 03-40479000 or visit gardnerandwife.com.
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