Jon’s Madd World
Enigmatic, eccentric, entertainer, extraordinaire Jon Madd is returning to Fringe World with not one, but three shows this summer. With over a decade of Fringe experience now up his sleeve, Madd brings his beloved magic workshop experience Abracadabra and Other Useless Magic Words, and A Late Night Variety Show to The Pleasure Garden, and the magical Here we are now, entertain us! to Belgian Beer Café stage this year, with performances spanning the entirety of the festival. BOB GORDON spoke with Madd about his busy Fringe season.
Now in its 11th year, Abracadabra and Other Useless Magic Words continues to power on as a popular favourite with Fringe fans young, old, and in between.
“I asked myself, after the fourth year, ‘is it time to move on?’, Madd says, “But I was still getting sold-out sessions, so I kind of made the rule for myself that as long as I sell out at least one show, I’ll come back.
“And it’s been 11 years. So stop buying tickets, and I’ll stop doing the show!”
Abracadabra and Other Useless Magic Words was inspired by Madd’s early experiences attending Fringe shows as a young magician. As his mind opened up to the creative possibilities of his own event, he noted that most shows were marketed to adults or young children, but not the harder-to-please teens.
“So when I put the show together, I wanted something that wasn’t quite a kiddie show but something families could come to, or kids who are too cool for school to come to and walk away with something that they can use. With the way that magic has influenced my life, I thought how nice it would be to introduce people to actually doing decent magic.
“That’s why it’s called Abracadabra and Other Useless Magic Words, because it’s not about the trick in itself but how you present the trick. How you wrap up a simple trick to make it look more and more impossible, thus creating magic.”
Madd will also debut his ‘solo-ish’ new show Here We Are Now, Entertain Us! at Le Roi at Belgian Beer Cafe from Sunday, February 11, to Sunday, February 18.
“It’s a combination of my 15 years of performing magic at all sorts of events brought to a parlour stage,” he says. “It was meant to be a solo show, but I’ve got The Showman, an emerging artist whose dream is to be a part of Fringe.
“I thought, ‘Well, it’s my show, and I can do whatever I want!’.”
If you’d like to see Madd do even more this Fringe, the good news is that in 2024, he’s a triple threat. With musical and burlesque talents also up his sleeve, his appearances at the somewhat mysterious A Late Night Variety Show will reveal more of this engaging enigma at The Hat Trick at The Pleasure Garden, from Friday, January 19, to Sunday, January 28.
“I thought it’s been a decade of Fringe now, and last year I focused just on the magic workshop, the Abracadabra show, so I thought maybe this year I’ll blow it up and do more things… even though I keep trying to do less things!”
Madd says he loves the psychology of magic and its ability to bring people of all ages a little bit closer—even for just a moment—back to childhood.
“I perform for the kids knowing that the parents are looking over their shoulders, and I love watching the reactions of both,” he says. “That’s why I say the workshop is for kids ages eight to 80.
“If it hopefully brings other people even a fraction as much of the fun that magic has brought me in my life, then I think it’s well worth the ticket price.”
Abracadabra And Other Useless Magic Words – tickets here
Here We Are Now, Entertain Us! – tickets here
A Late Night Variety Show – tickets here