"Upside down on a burning rope between the jaws of death"

SussexWorld

Richard Cadell is promising genuine jeopardy amid the escapism.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt,

00:04Brief Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers.

00:06Lovely this afternoon to speak to Richard Cadell.

00:08And Richard, you are heading to a number of venues in our area

00:12with Cirque du Magique.

00:14Now, it sounds a wonderful show, in which there is proper jeopardy.

00:18And you were speaking just now with such excitement

00:20about this jeopardy that you expose yourself to.

00:24Why? What's the buzz from that jeopardy then?

00:27Well, I think an audience loves to be excited.

00:29They love to be thrilled.

00:30They love to be on the edge of their seats.

00:32And Cirque du Magique is, you know, it's a circus-type style show,

00:36very fast and modern.

00:38But we're doing magic primarily in it that is with a circus flavour.

00:42And when you go to the circus, you know,

00:44when you see those trapeze artists and those motorcycle riders,

00:47you know, you are on the edge of your seat

00:49because there's danger and jeopardy and skill.

00:51So we've combined those elements with big illusions.

00:54And I'll be suspended upside down on a burning rope

00:57with two steel jaws heading towards me.

00:59I'm going to dodge a chainsaw, balance on a sword,

01:03and numerous other things, escape from...

01:05What does it say about you that you put yourself in this position?

01:08Oh, you know, it just... I don't know what it says.

01:11I just love the whole adrenaline rush of it.

01:13And I love the audience to be part of that

01:15because a show of this type is never seen, very rarely, of this scale.

01:19This is not a magic show with packs of cards and bits of rope.

01:22This is a big, you know, huge show.

01:24And they're very rarely ever staged in this country.

01:27You know, you'd have to go to Las Vegas to see something this scale.

01:30And when an audience is in the theatre and they get to see it and feel it

01:34and know that it's just so close to them they could touch it,

01:37they know that, A, you're not cheating,

01:39or if you are, you're doing it so they can't see you doing it.

01:42No, you're cheating. They know that it's genuine.

01:44There's no camera tricks. There's nothing like that.

01:46So, of course, the audience reaction is heightened

01:48because they know it's really happening in real time.

01:51So, of course, us as performers, we get that reaction

01:54and everything just is fuelled off that.

01:57And heightened for you too.

01:59You were saying you had a dodgy moment with a microphone the other day.

02:02Oh, yeah, I was doing the Jaws of Death,

02:06which is where I'm in a straight jacket,

02:08which a member of the audience buckles me into.

02:10I'll be doing this in the show.

02:12Madness, hung upside down in the air with the rope burning.

02:16And if the rope burns through, the jaws,

02:18which are big, heavy, steel-teethed jaws, will slam into me.

02:22I mean, these are huge, these jaws.

02:25And where they'd used a different microphone,

02:27the cable for the mic, they'd run down my back.

02:29And inadvertently, I didn't realise,

02:31when the guy buckled me into the straight jacket,

02:33I can't see what he's doing.

02:34All the cable was caught in the buckle.

02:36So I'm now sort of blindfolded, trying to undo the buckles

02:38as I'm hung upside down, and I can't see them.

02:40I just feel it, and I can't work out what I'm feeling.

02:43I know it's unusual, and then I realise what's happened.

02:45And that's when I thought, hang on a minute,

02:48you're in real trouble here.

02:49You've got to get out of this jacket,

02:51because if you don't, you're in real trouble.

02:53But your adrenaline kicks in,

02:56and fortunately, I sort of knew my way around it quite well.

03:00And in the nick of time,

03:01I was able to drop from the rope onto the crash mat.

03:05And the jaws were like a couple of seconds after me.

03:08You realise you are doing this so that we don't have to, aren't you?

03:14I'm doing this because I don't know.

03:16I don't know why I'm doing it.

03:17I love doing it.

03:18I love doing it.

03:19I love the whole showmanship of the whole thing.

03:21But it's the audience reaction that we love.

03:24It's all about the audience.

03:25It's about giving them something that they haven't seen before.

03:29And the showmanship is key,

03:30because as you're saying, it's an escape, isn't it?

03:34Yeah, it's an escape, and everything is showmanship.

03:37Magic is all about showmanship.

03:39I mean, everything.

03:40And I adore that element.

03:42I adore the, you know, we've got dancers in this show.

03:45We've got fire.

03:46We've got lighting.

03:47We've got lasers.

03:48And all of those things, you know,

03:50add and dress these effects and take them to a new level.

03:53I mean, the lighting, even on the jaws of death, you know,

03:56the way they light me and the music that runs underneath,

03:58the heartbeat as the timer gets closer and closer to zero,

04:01and, you know, that rope's burning.

04:03All that stuff just makes for a real dramatic experience,

04:06as well as, you know, a magical and hopefully puzzling experience.

04:10So, yeah, it's a wonderful, wonderful art to be involved in.

04:14Fabulous.

04:15You almost persuade me, but rather you than me.

04:17Lovely to speak to you, and have a great time.

04:20Thank you for your time, Richard.

04:22It's a pleasure.

04:23Pleasure.

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