Naked Magicians announce Las Vegas Strip show
This really is a strip magic show.
The Naked Magicians are moving into MGM Grand, taking up residency at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club on Feb. 13 (tickets start at $54.95, not including fees, and are on sale Friday). The show performs 10 p.m. nightly (dark Tuesdays).
With the slogan, “Sleeves Up, Pants Down,” The Naked Magicians star top Australian magicians Mike Tyler and Christopher Wayne. These guys are famously adept at sleight of … hand, and also in good physical condition. The Naked Magicians concept arose after audience members shouted such requests as, “Take it off!” and also, “Take it ALL off!”
The Naked Magicians eschew traditional magicians’ garb for “full-frontal illusions complete with magic, muscles and endless laughs. Left without sleeves or pockets, The Naked Magicians perform mesmerizing feats that are both baffling and entertaining.” This, from the show’s official news release announcing its residency.
“We are thrilled to open our first Sin City residency,” Tyler said in that release. “Las Vegas is very sexy with a lot of magic and is the perfect place for our show.”
The Naked Magicians have reportedly visited more than 200 cities and seven country’s, including a headlining run on London’s West End.
David Copperfield, the hotel’s long-running resident headlining superstar illusionist, has supported the act (he’s known Tyler and Wayne for years) and has no problem with the act running in the Underground promenade.
The duo have been seeking a Las Vegas venue for several years, in talks with various producers, and have effectively ended any idea Mike Tyson has had for returning his “Undisputed Truth: Round 2” show to Garrett’s room in the near future (Tyson had previously sold out two headlining runs in the comedy venue).
Garrett leases his room from MGM Resorts International, and is in turn sub-leasing the room to the naked Aussies. As he said in a text, “Just make sure they don’t stir your drinks without using their hands!”
Garrett never disappoints.
Also from the release, Tyler competed as a swimmer in the National Championships and Pan Pacific Games, before diving into hypnosis and magic as a stage career. Wayne was a traditional, “clothed” magician on Australia Channel 10’s long-running television program, “Toasted TV,” before becoming the first Australian magician in broadcast history to have his own series, “More Than Magic,” which aired in Australia, New Zealand, England and the United States.
“Good magicians don’t need sleeves and great magicians don’t need pants,” Tyler said. “When we say ‘abracadabra,’ the audience isn’t always looking at our hands.”
“It’s kind of crazy because magic is the second-oldest profession and we couldn’t believe no one had combined the two things that everyone loves: magic and nudity,” Wayne said.
The show is billed as rated R — maybe for rabbit, or lack thereof. But with The Naked Magicians, there’s plenty too look at, or, in come cases, not look at.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts.Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
