Theatre
Meet Mark Kalin from the Illusionists 1903
If you love magic we have the perfect event for you! The Illusionists 1903 is coming to Melbourne and Sydney in January.
The Illusionists 1903 will be performed at Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre from January 2-10 and the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall from January 19-28. Click here to purchase tickets.
The jaw-dropping show has assembled the finest magicians and illusionists from all over the world for an amazing show that celebrates the golden age of magic.
You won’t believe what you see with your very eyes when the talented performers take to the stage and blow your mind!
One such performer is Mark Kalin, The Showman. The experienced magician has performed some of the most brazen magic tricks including the biggest stage illusion of all time when he made a jumbo jet disappear from the Reno Hilton.
When we heard Mark Kalin was performing as part of Illusionists 1903, we were desperate to know more! Lucky for us – and for you! – we got the chance to talk to Mark and find out more about the upcoming performances and some of his most famous tricks.
Ticketmaster: The Illusionists are renowned for putting on remarkable live shows. Can you explain to anyone who is yet to see an Illusionists show what they should expect?
Mark Kalin: It brings together a collection of some of the world’s most renowned magicians, all specialists in their field, presenting magic on a grand scale. Here you’ll see some of the greatest wonders ever attempted, including levitation, transformation and death-defying escape. And most importantly, it presents magic as it was always intended to be seen, live. Great magic, performed live by true masters, is something most people have never experienced. All of the Illusionist shows are suitable for the whole family.
Ticketmaster: The new show takes people back to 1903; a golden time for magic. How will this show differ from previous tours?
Mark Kalin: Past illusionists productions have put the focus on contemporary magic, framed in a modern sensibility like a rock concert. The Illusionists 1903 is a look back to time when magic had a more intriguing, sophisticated air. They were darker mysteries presented by the original thinkers and innovators of the day. During the golden age magicians really were the rock stars. It’s all presented within the framework of an ornate turn of the century opera house. The music, costuming and scenic environment all contribute to a unique theatrical and magical experience. I have told many, if you are a magic nerd… this is the show for you.
Ticketmaster: You have a very unique job. Can you tell us what it was that attracted you to magic and illusions?
Mark Kalin: I started magic at the age of nine, when I stumbled onto a magic book at the library. I was into puppets, and the magic books were right next to the puppet books. I started doing shows when I was 12. At 19 I decided I wanted to get a tiger and go to Vegas. So I did. I did some big spectacular illusions, got permits through USDA and Fish & Game, bought a tiger. Added some sexy girls and costumes… and ended up in Vegas. I worked there for more than 10 years straight.
Ticketmaster: Who has had the biggest influence on your career?
Mark Kalin: I was in a magic club, The Long Beach Mystics. The focus was on performing and being original; a shared love of magic. That club propelled me, inspired by the other magicians. Most were a bit older than me. Fellow members include Illusionists Dana Daniels (The Charlatan), Rick Thomas (The Immortal) and the show’s writer and historian, Mike Caveney.
Ticketmaster: You were awarded Magician of the Year by the Academy of Magical Arts. Can you tell us what that award meant to you?
Mark Kalin: First of all, it was a complete surprise. Sometimes you’re just out there working, trying to do good job. Jinger and I were focused for so many years on this road – trying to find a path to creative fulfillment. Just trying to make good magic. It never occurred to us that others were noticing. I received a phone call one day, “You and Jinger have been chosen as ‘Magicians of the Year’”, and I was stunned silent. I teared up instantly. In that moment I realised that we had made some sort of contribution that was worth recognising. But we never saw it coming. It was, and still is, a huge honour.
Ticketmaster: If you could work with any other magician – alive or dead – who would you pick?
Mark Kalin: PT Selbit, and Englishman. He was one of the most innovative and successful illusionists from the golden age. Jinger and I perform his original sawing a woman in two in the 1903 show, just as he performed it in London in 1921. Selbit was a relentless creator, understood the public’s psyche and fascination with certain things. In fact, you would be surprised to learn that prior to his sawing trick, it was the fashion to use MEN as the assistants on stage. At the time, Selbit was creating a new illusion, ‘Sawing a man in two’. But women’s suffrage was in full force in England and America, a very controversial idea at the time. Selbit, seizing on the controversy, decided to change his creation to sawing a WOMAN in two, thereby creating a sort living political cartoon. It was a worldwide sensation. Soon it was copied by many others and women become the stage foils for magicians from that point on.
His wife Talma was also a magician in her own right. So there are similarities there, with Jinger and I.
Ticketmaster: You once made a jumbo jet disappear at the Reno Hilton. Firstly, can you tell us about that illusion and secondly, do you have any plans to replicate the feat?
Mark Kalin: That trick was a monumental undertaking, and a challenge to every aspect of being a magician. It was the result of months of careful work and planning. The scale and speed of the mystery required a number of innovative techniques. It was the climax to our show presented nightly for over two years and was witnessed by over a half a million people. We performed above a poured concrete stage, the only floor that would support the weight, so we couldn’t use trap doors.
I would do it again if I could find a stage big enough.
Ticketmaster: What would you say to any young people who are passionate about magic and illusions?
Mark Kalin: Put aside YouTube and read a magic book. There is something fundamentally different about learning from a book, you must use your imagination and it forces creativity. YouTube-learned magic often results in copy-cat magicians with little sense of self or original thinking. Magic will continue to be relevant for new generations if magicians can supply new wonders and capture the imagination of the audiences. This requires originality.
Join a magic club or find others like yourself. Share magic, be inspired by others but don’t copy them. Find your road, be yourself, and always strive to go beyond what’s been done.
Wow, that’s quite a lot, isn’t it?
Ticketmaster: Is there anything we can say to get you to reveal your secrets?
Mark Kalin: That would be no fun.
Ticketmaster: Mark, thanks for joining us. Best of luck with the upcoming performances.
The Illusionists 1903 will be performed at Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre from January 2-10 and the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall from January 19-28. Click here to purchase tickets.
