The obvious inference to draw from “The Naked Magic Show” is it features illusionists with nothing to hide.
Spicy and unique, the R-rated, for-adults stage show has a 7 p.m. Sunday date at Merrillville’s Star Plaza Theatre.
“This show is for everyone who’s got that naughty, cheeky side to them,” said Mike Tyler, one of the two young-and-fit Australian magic men. “We like to think of it as everybody has that jar of naughtiness which is built up inside them. Some have their lids screwed on tighter than others, and we like to take that jar and shake it up.”
Both Tyler and his onstage partner, Christopher Wayne, are 31 years old, and are single Brisbane boys.
Touting the catchphrase “sleeves up, pants down,” the Aussies put a sexy spin on rabbit-in-the-hat entertainment that comes with a disclaimer from the Merrillville venue that stated the show “includes coarse language, sexual references and nudity.”
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Forewarned is forearmed.
“It’s called ‘The Naked Magic Show’ for a reason,” Tyler noted in a recent phone interview. “We promise that it will be one of the most incredible magic shows you’ll ever see. We promise it’ll be one of the funniest comedy shows you’ll ever see. The show does appeal to an audience that otherwise wouldn’t go and see a normal magic show. It is a perfect girls night out.”
Still, there is some pace and some buildup to the unclothed state.
“We do start clothed; it’s not about two guys standing on stage completely stark naked and doing card tricks,” Tyler, who has a background as a competitive swimmer, said. “We don’t just take it off straight away. We don’t want to take away from the magic just by getting naked straight away.”
Although reveling in double-entendre marketing (“now you see it”), and although billing itself as “the world’s naughtiest magic show,” there are boundaries to the sights that will be available at the Merrillville engagement.
“There’s no frontal nudity,” said Charlie Blum, president and chief executive officer of the Star Plaza Theatre. The Sunday show is only for those 18 and older.
Blum, a Dyer resident, said “The Naked Magic Show” has been booked at some “extremely prestigious” theaters in the United States that include the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C., and the Shubert Theatre in Boston. Another notable venue that set aside time for Tyler and Wayne is the Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric in Baltimore.
“It’s being produced by some top Broadway producers,” Blum noted. “It was a huge hit in Australia and England.”
Tyler noted he and Wayne both have logged a substantial number of years in the magic business. Wayne — who boasts radio comedy writing experience — was a clothed magician on a long-running children’s TV program, and then had his own TV series as an Australian magician. Tyler, meanwhile, has been a clothed entertainer at corporate shows and sports-related events in Australia. He also has put his sleight-of-hand skills to good use by performing magic in no less than 10 countries around the globe.
“The Naked Magic Show” reflects all of that experience.
“It’s very strong magic,” Tyler said. “We avoid all that cheesy, stereotypical grand illusion style of magic. In the show we have an amazing prediction. We have a dangerous knife throw. We have a twist on the straitjacket escape.”
Then, there is a large-scale interactive trick that involves every audience member.
“We actually have a saying in the show that good magicians don’t need sleeves and great magicians don’t need pants,” Tyler said. “You’d be surprised about how getting naked in front of thousands of screaming, happy, applauding audience members makes it easier to get naked every night on stage.”
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance writer.
The Naked Magic Show
Where: Star Plaza Theatre, 8001 Delaware Place, Merrillville
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $41, $49 and $56; 18 and older only
Information: 219-769-6311, ext. 5463; www.starplazatheatre.com
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