Chris Cox: Mentalist in "The Illusionists" / Creator of the viral hit Wolverine the Musical
‘Tis the
season for The Illusionists – Magic of the Holidays, the latest
installment of the world-famous, blockbuster touring magic spectacular from Cirque
du Soleil. This year’s family-friendly show will be performed at the Mark C.
Smith Concert Hall on Thursday, December 5th, at 7pm. Prepare
yourself for even more illusions, close-up magic, mentalism, and technological
spectacle performed by master magicians, illusionists and one mentalist.
The “one
mentalist” is Chris Cox. And he graciously made time to Zoom with our very own
Wil Elrick about The Illusionists. Big shoutout to Wil for taking over
the interview (since I couldn’t make it that day) and ask my Kip’s Korner
questions!
First, here’s
a little background on Chris Cox – The Mentalist:
Cox, a
multi-award-winning “mind reader who can’t read minds,” has performed on
Broadway, London’s West End, and the Sydney Opera House. He stars in the BBC’s “Chris
Cox’s Mind-Boggling Magic,” and “Killer Magic” and has appeared on NBC’s “The
Today Show.” The Guardian calls him “one of the most exciting entertainers in
Britain,” and The New York Times describes his as “a hyperactive Harry Potter
who knows what you’re thinking.”
Here's a bit
of Wil’s chat with Chris…
You star
as the “mentalist” in “The Illusionists” but you are a self-proclaimed “mind
reader who can’t read minds.” Could you explain that?
Well, “mind
reader who can’t read minds” is too long to put on the poster so in “The
Illusionists” I’m the mentalist. When I started doing this at the Edinburgh
Festival when I was 18, I decided on being a “mind reader who can’t read minds”
because no one can really read your mind. But what I do is use all sorts of
techniques including magic, psychology, body language, devilish good looks of
course, and obviously lots of lying, to make you think that I know what you’re
thinking. And in the show, I will read your mind, and you will think I can read
your mind, but I can’t actually read your mind. I work in that weird area
between being able to not do it, but makes you think that I can do it. So long
story short: I can read your mind, but I also definitely can’t read your mind.
We’re
playing with that idea of what we’re going to do, we’re going to enjoy the game
and the artifice of pretending this is real because Theatre is just a big game.
We go into a theater as an audience, and we pretend that we are watching
something for real. If we see Hamilton, we pretend that the actor is
Alexander Hamilton, and he can now rap
amazingly. It’s the same with a magic show. You go and we pretend that we are
watching people do these incredible feats. And I think once you can make people
enjoy playing that game with you rather than trying to figure it out or work it
out, it becomes a much more magical experience for everyone.
Also, my
greatest love isn’t magic. It’s theater. I love theater more than anything in
the world. I got married in a theater. And I think the joy of a show like “The
Illusionists” is it allows and invites people into the theater who might not
normally go because they don’t want to see a play or a musical. But with a show
like ours, it’s for everyone. It’s a kind of really accessible way to come in
and see something amazing and then hopefully, ignite the passion for both magic
and theater for that audience.
How did
you get into being a mentalist?
I remember
it very well. I was 11 years old, and I
was at home in England and I got this letter that was delivered by an owl. Then
seven years at Hogwarts, Hufflepuff and Proud, and now I’m a mind reader!
Seriously though, nearly every magician I’ve ever met answers this question in
the same way: At some point as a child, you get a magic kit. And we’re the ones
that just never stopped playing with them. And I quickly got into mind reading
because I felt it was more performance than magic. So, I fell down that path
and I’ve been doing that ever since I was a kid.
In 2019
you made your Broadway debut at the Neil Simon Theater in “The Illusionists –
Magic of the Holidays.” What is your biggest memory from your Broadway debut?
That was
such an amazing time! I love theater and I really love musical theater. I had
always wanted to visit Broadway, so I went with my mum to NYC for four days
when I was 21. I bought us tickets to see Hairspray which was at the
Neil Simon Theater. And then many years later I’m making my Broadway debut in
“The Illusionists” at which theater? The Neil Simon Theatre! I was on
billboards, playbills and on the marquee of the theater. And yeah, it was kind
of just unbelievable!
Tell us
about your viral hit, “Wolverine the Musical” with Hugh Jackman?
I used to be
a producer at BBC Radio 1, the UK’s biggest youth radio station. We had Hugh
Jackman coming on the show to promote “X-Men Days of Future Past.” I’m
obviously doing anything I can to get musical theater on that show because I
love musical theater, and I decided to write a Wolverine musical. I pitched it
to his publicist who said you’ll have to ask Hugh when he gets there. So often
celebrities would turn up with big entourages. Hugh turned up by himself on a
bicycle that he borrowed from the hotel. He's literally the nicest guy in show business. I showed him the song I wrote and
asked him if he would consider singing it on the air. He looked it over and said,
“I’d be delighted to!”
To be in
that room watching Hugh Jackman rehearse my song was amazing. And I remember
sort of just toiling over this ridiculous idea of what’s a good line that
rhymes with claws? Applause! Yes, good! Right. We’re on!
So, what
can people that come out to see “The Illusionists – Magic of the Holidays” expect
to encounter?
You can
expect a genuinely fun night of entertainment. I think that’s the most
important thing. The show is funnier than you would expect. It’s more magical
than you would think. And it leaves you with a wonderful holiday cheer as well.
You’ve got the greatest illusionists around the world in our show.
Our aim is
to give you that sense of childlike wonder and allow you at whatever age to go,
“Wow, that was an incredible night out.” You’ll see stuff you won’t be able to see
anywhere else in the world. You get to talk about the show afterwards with your
friends and family, trying to work out how things are done. It will give you
that real sense of wonder in the world which you don’t get very often. And that
means that we have done our job.
Any final words for all the Kip’s Korner readers out there?
There’s the one thing I miss since Covid, we don’t really do stage dooring stuff like we used to do. It’s always lovely to meet people. So, if anyone ever wants to get a selfie and stuff, always pop back to the stage door and say hi.
Well, I don’t
know about any of you, but I will certainly be popping back to say hi after the
show! I mean, when else am I going to have the chance to meet “a hyperactive
Harry Potter who knows what I’m thinking.”
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