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

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Richard Cadell is promising genuine jeopardy amid the escapism.

“I’ll be hanging upside down on a burning rope between the jaws of death, escaping from a box surrounded by six live swinging chainsaws and vanishing on a motorcycle while suspended 20 feet in the air,” he promises as he heads to The Congress Theatre Eastbourne on Friday, October 25. Tickets available at shoneproductions.co.uk or 01323 412000.

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Cirque du Magique sees Richard joined by Alex McAleer, Taylor Morgan and Rebecca Foyle, all intent on challenging “your perception of reality with mind-bending illusions that will leave you in awe.”

“It's complete escapism,” Richard says. “It's not the real world but we would all love to live in a world where we could make people appear and disappear and cut someone in half and put them back together again. It would be a great place to be, and I do think that people do want to believe that there is magic. It is the kid in all of us. People love the puzzle and trying to work it out to see just how they think it happens.

“I've done magic all my life and you just cannot beat seeing it live. People see it on TV and get used to consuming it that way but in the theatre it’s big and it's spectacular and it's happening right in front of you. My style of magic is huge and spectacular and you just don't get the chance to see that very much apart from in Las Vegas. I don't want to do pick-a-card type tricks. I want to do the big stuff and I just adore performing it. Everything I own and use, all my props are all built in Las Vegas. They are all my toys, all my bits of apparatus and you get a great big sense of pride when you are doing something that is original. When you're doing it live the audiences know that you are there in front of them and that you haven't stopped the camera and they can see all around you. The reaction is always great, and that's the reward. You don't do this for a fee. You do this for that reaction.”

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Cirque du Magique  (contributed pic)Cirque du Magique  (contributed pic)
Cirque du Magique (contributed pic) | Cirque du Magique (contributed pic)

As Richard says, they will be touring with two 40-foot trucks full of lighting and props. They get to do the show for one night which means they have to arrive by eight in the morning and are still putting it all up at four in the afternoon. And then after the show they'll be taking it down still at one in the morning before moving on: “This just isn't the kind of thing you do for the money. You do it because it is just so special and because you love doing it.”

And adding to the buzz is the fact that it could all go wrong. In his Jaws of Death routine Richard was recently using a new microphone which became entangled in the buckles. The escape was narrow. He also had a near mess in a water tank trick he used to do.

“But life would be dull without it. Obviously there is a degree of trickery but this is a one-off show. This is a proper edge of your seat type show. So many shows are pick a card or cut a rope in half and restore it but this isn't. This is a real thing. I just love it. You do a trick and you get a reaction from the audience and it's just like scoring a goal!”

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