The grand i usionist
PAUL ZENON may be set to teach Tom Cruise a trick or two but the mirthful magician refuses to take himself seriously. Words: Brian Donaldson
avid Blaine may lock himself in an icebox and sit at the top
of a pole for a ludicrous amount of time but he‘s yet to
perform the ultimate stunt: going on a 40-hour bender with Johnny Vegas. Paul Xenon. often unfairly dubbed ‘the British Blaine‘. has performed this life—threatening stunt. And come out the other side a wiser man. ‘1 got an invite to his stag night. but luckily I was working that evening.‘ he says. ‘l’ivery time I see Johnny Vegas it tends to last for three days and we wake up naked in a foreign country.‘
Talking of disturbing nudity. Paul Xenon has plumped for the fleshy approach to publicise his 2002 show. But. bloody hell. why? ‘With Edinburgh. there are H) million posters so we had to come up with something different] says Xenon. ‘I wanted something other than the mystic magician staring and looking miserable. In America. they think if you mumble and stare. that equals spirituality. I wanted to emphasise we weren‘t taking it too seriously.‘
Which brings us back to the boy Blaine. You may remember the American illusionist staring blankly at Eamon Holmes on the GMTV couch and maybe there you have the limit to Blaine’s natural sense of fun. “()ur stuff has a more British. tongue in cheek flavour. I think he's going to find it difficult to keep topping the stunts. Supposedly. his next one is going to be on Tower Bridge and I‘m planning on being there with a megaphone. heckling. I think all these stunts are basically because he‘s too lazy to learn a couple of jokes. Mind you. he is almost single-handedly responsible for giving magic a new lease of life image-wise.‘
To give Paul Xenon credit. he's done as much as any British trickster to give the magic game a fresh twist. Having hit the Fringe in 1997. Xenon has gone on to confirm his status as the country’s prime magic man/staml-up with TV shows such as the Channel 4 one- offs in which he foxed the good people on the streets of Glasgow and Prague. He's so good. in fact. he's even performed tricks on the radio.
Contrary to what you may imagine from his publicity shots. Xenon actually has quite a hit up his sleeve. He‘s due to publish a book later this year (/00 Wins In Win a Hunter) and soon. he may be introducing Hollywood‘s blue-eyed boy to the world of magic. Tom Cruise is set to play Jasper Maskelyne. the magician who helped in the Allied World War II effort with such grand illusions as hiding the Suez Canal from .\7a'/.i eyes. ‘lt's been rumoured that Cruise has wanted to play a magician for a while. But Maskelyne was 6ft 2in so that‘ll be his first illusion. Apparently. Cruise is quite keen to do some tricks himself rather than the usual thing of cutting away to someone else's hand. But I‘ve probably blown the whole thing by talking about it.‘
‘Blaine does stunts because he’s too lazy to learn a couple of jokes’
Off the Street, on the Road, Assembly Rooms, 226 2428, 2-26 Aug, 10.30pm, 5210-521 1 (9-9210).
FRANCESCA MARTINEZ
Spearheading the liberation army
ignore it, and it was so liberating to undermine peOple's preconceptions.‘
Martinez. who was born with mild cerebral It wasn't a traditional route to stand-up stardom. palsy, won the Daily Telegraph Open Mic award Francesca Martinez's father wrote a script and in 2000 and hasn't looked back since. She's
’ t " ii
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20 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 1 “8 Aug 9002
made her character a comedian. There was only one thing for the former Grange Hill actress to do: get some practice. ‘I got persuaded to do a gig.‘ she says. ‘and it was the most terrifying thing I've attempted. I was shaking like a leaf. But it was also the most amazing thing I've ever done. It was so different to acting: so raw. so uncensored and you can't say that about much in society. The audience seemed to crave honesty and it was the first time in my life I'd said something about disability - I used to
been writing this year's show since January. I'mperfecf is a mix of sketches, music and voiceovers that analyses the difference between image and reality. ‘l'm a very big fan of comedy that also challenges people.‘ she explains. “It's like the difference between a blockbuster. which you see and then forget about. and a more interesting, offbeat film that really tells you something.‘ (James Macklin)
I Pleasance, 556 6550, until 26 Aug (not 6, 20). 8.45pm, ES—EIO.