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Abracadabra

Aussie duo promises laughs, tricks and more

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Naked Magicians, gay news, Washington Blade
Naked Magicians, gay news, Washington Blade

Christopher Wayne, left, and Mike Tyler says performing nude gave their show a novel twist that’s worked. (Photo courtesy the Works Entertainment)

When dazzling audiences with their collection of illusions and tricks, magicians Mike Tyler and Christopher Wayne clearly have nothing up their sleeves — or anywhere else on their body for that matter — as the dynamic duo perform their magic in the nude.

The two best friends were already successful comedy magicians in Australia when the movie “Magic Mike” came out, and people started making sexualized magic jokes because of Tyler’s name.

“We were talking about it and realized that in the entire history of magic, nobody had ever made a naughty magic show—a comedy magic show that grabs on to that inner demon that every single person has inside of them,” Wayne says. “We didn’t know for sure that it would work, but we knew it was a different and clever idea.”

In no time at all, the two — both straight — were the talk of the magic world and packing in audiences all over Down Under.

“We realized that magic had a cheesy stigma attached to it that we wanted to break down. What better way to break the magic mold than to offer something that had never been done before and literally strip away the magic stereotypes — the top hats, capes, magic wands and the cheesy magic poses,” Tyler says. “Part of the reason it works is because it’s two best mates on stage who’ve worked so hard creating the show to appeal to an audience that wouldn’t normally go to see a regular magic show.”

The Naked Magicians will perform at the Model Performing Arts Center at the Lyric in Baltimore on Thursday, April 21 and at the Lincoln Theatre in D.C., on Sunday, April 24.

“Expect to laugh more than you have in any other comedy show. Expect to see some of the most amazing magic ever.  Expect to be shocked in the best way possible,” Wayne says. “When we were in Hong Kong a journalist asked me, ‘What would you say to more conservative theater goers?’ My answer, ‘Stay at home.’”

Be aware, this isn’t just a clever name for a show; by the end the two are 100 percent naked. However, it’s important to know that the show isn’t just two guys standing there in the nude from start to finish.

“We promise the show will be one of the most incredible magic shows you’ll ever see, we promise to deliver non-stop laughs and we do promise we’ll get naked by the end of the show,” Tyler says. “The audience can think of the show like a first Tinder date … you’ll have a drink, have a laugh, enjoy some magic and we promise you’ll get a glimpse of our magic wands by the end of the show. Let’s hope it’s a not a cold night in Washington.”

The two met at one of Tyler’s magic performances and though both were fully clothed, they connected through the common interest of magic and a bromance developed.

“We have become closer and closer since then, to the point where we now feel 100 percent comfortable getting naked with one other,” Tyler says. “Still just friends though. Christopher is an incredibly talented magician, very funny, and a top bloke so designing the show together came naturally. Now I have my dream job where I get to entertain thousands of people each night with my best mate by my side.”

Rather than a show of classic grand illusions or cheesy magic, the Naked Magic Show is a high-energy party atmosphere where two buff Aussie men get naked while performing incredible trickery and delivering non-stop laughs.

“As we were both magicians before ever deciding to get naked on stage, the actual magic in the show is top-notch,” Tyler says. “It’s all themed around those naughty topics that we normally only discuss with close friends behind closed doors after a few wines. We even have a trick that literally happening in the hands of every audience member. The show is very interactive, but be assured we’re the only ones who need to get naked.”

As you’d expect from a show with two best mates delivering incredible magic and non-stop laughs in the buff, the show is a celebration of sexuality that not only accommodates the LBGT community, but fully embraces and welcomes it.

“Prior to the birth of the Naked Magic Show, Mike and I were, and still are, active LGBT rights supporters, so we love that we have a wide audience, and we love that this show is embraced by the gay community,” Wayne says.

“We love it when we have gay couples, both male and female, who come to the show and leave with a sore mouth — from laughing,” Tyler says. “The Naked Magic Show is an orgy of magic, comedy, and nudity … and it’s for everyone.”

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Music & Concerts

Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule

Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

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Writer Gregg Shapiro with Jill Sobule in 2000. (Photo courtesy Shapiro)

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.

Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).

Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.

With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.

Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”

That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.

While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.

Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.

On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.

Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.

When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.

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Music & Concerts

Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’

Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

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Singer Tom Goss is back. (Photo by Dusti Cunningham)

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co. 

Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.

For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

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Music & Concerts

Kylie brings ‘Tension’ tour to D.C.

Performance on Tuesday at Capital One Arena

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Kylie Minogue visits D.C. on Tuesday.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.

The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”

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