You’d think 50 sell out shows would take a lot of you, but Raymond Crowe, Adelaide’s very own Unusualist, shows no sign of slowing down.
Raymond Crowe is known and loved around the world for his eccentric style of performance, which combines everything from illusion to ventriloquism to shadow puppetry. Crowe has performed alongside the likes of Bon Jovi and Russell Brand, and for David Letterman and Queen Elizabeth. He received a standing ovation from 3000 magicians at the World Magic Convention in 2000 (quite a tough crowd!) and has even been invited to perform and lecture at the World Congress of Magic in Italy.
You might know him from the viral What a Wonderful World shadow puppet video, or his outstanding performances that scored him a grand final position in last year’s Australia’s Got Talent. But whatever way you were introduced to him you will likely agree that he is a multi-faceted genius, who can make you laugh, cry, cheer and gasp.
Crowe is on his way to Her Majesty’s Theatre this week to put on a show that’s bound to be just as incredible as anything we’ve seen before. I had the chance to talk to him, to get inside his head and also to hear him make some funny noises. He said, seemingly lost in nostalgia, that it’s great to be coming back to Adelaide after performing in New Zealand and in various festival centres around Australia.
Crowe has performed under the title of “Unusualist” for 20 years now, so I asked him just what being an “Unusualist” was all about and where the name came from.
“I had so many interests other than magic. I studied mime, ventriloquism and physical comedy and shadows, so it was hard to put it all into one box,” he said.
“I would ask people what they thought of my work and they would say ‘well… it’s unusual’, and I thought, ‘hey, that’s good! I’ll use that’. It’s nice because it doesn’t limit what I can do.”
Crowe went on to talk about his obsessive love of magic as a kid and how that expanded into a love of ventriloquism, even though he never had a doll.
“Nowadays I find ventriloquism without puppets a lot more fun,” he confesses.
“I used to write to a magician here in Adelaide, a guy called Gene Raymond. He was wonderful. He grew up here in South Australia during the Depression. He encouraged me, but didn’t teach me too much. He believed that you had to seek it out, which I think was quite good advice, to perhaps go your own way a bit.”
This guidance led Crowe down a good road, as he is now touted as one of the most unique and interesting magicians in the world!
When I quizzed him further about a day in the life of an Unusualist, Crowe laughed and pointed out that he just got back from New Zealand.
“Just yesterday I did 10 TV interviews. It was like, bang, bang, bang… (more “bangs” omitted for brevity’s sake).” So obviously, the life of an Unusualist is a busy one!
Coming up with new illusions must be one of the hardest parts of the job, but somehow Crowe seems to manage.
“I find ideas come to me really easily, it’s just getting them to work. The nice thing about the show is that it’s 90 minutes long, so you get time to experiment a bit with the audience. But some things come quickly, and others I’ve been working on for years!”
Crowe has had experience of performing not just on stage and with other magicians, but also for judges on Australia’s Got Talent. I wondered what differed about the experience.
“It’s funny because [on the show] you really don’t know what they’re going to say about you, so it was quite a scary experience. But in the end [I got] nothing but nice comments! What was interesting about the show as well was that I was performing alongside two brothers I went to school with. Life’s like that, I guess, especially in Adelaide.”
All of us here in Adelaide should be expecting quite a treat when this experienced performer comes round.
“There’s going to be some hand shadows, some that probably aren’t as nice as Wonderful World, they’re like the evil hand shadows. And we’ve got a three month old baby in the show, and one of my oldest friends, Maurice the Flea. He’s a bit of a romantic. Ladies beware! And we also catch live gold fish in the audience, which is based on my uncle in Horsham who is a mad fisherman.”
When I asked him about what the future of “Unusualism” holds, he said, “You know, the older you get, the more you value what you do if you like it… And I love it. I keep finding that there’s so much more that you can do and explore. The nice thing about magic is that it’s accessible, and there’s always some nice moments of audience participation.”
Crowe said that even when he’s old and grey he’ll still be working in the field, maybe as an advisor to a new generation of Unusualists. So it’s pretty obvious that nothing is going to stop him, not even the Adelaide heat!
Interviewed by James Rudd
Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre, 58 Grote St, Adelaide
Season: 15 November 2014 only
Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes
Tickets: $37.25 – $49.00
Bookings: Purchase tickets online through the Adelaide Festival Centre website or phone BASS on 131 246
Photo by Don Brice
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