Jon’s Madd about the music

Jon Madd brings his Box Of Tricks to Fringe World this summer, hitting Le Roi at Belgian Beer Cafe from Tuesday, February 11 until Sunday, February 16—with tickets on sale now. BOB GORDON chats with Madd about bringing his first true love into a brand-new show. 

You’ve got your Abracadabra and Other Useless Magic Words show happening this Fringe season, and last year you combined that one with Here We Are Now Entertain Us. What’s the lowdown with Box Of Tricks?

It’s similar to Here We Are Now Entertain Us, a combination of my past decade at Fringe and all the different things that I do threaded with magic, but it really shows my first love, which was and is music, through storytelling and comedy.

So it’s more than just a magic show. I’m trying to pull in my music. Basically, I tell the story of how I got the bug to perform, I suppose. So it starts off in kindergarten, in my first school play.

What play was that?

Oh, just a nativity scene. I was one of the Three Wise Men (laughs).

And did you have to sing in that?

Well, in the show, I basically start off with the story of how I was in the play and how my one line was, ‘I bring cheese.’ I’m not sure if the Three Wise Men actually brought cheese (laughs), but it was the line that was given, and it got people laughing, and I think that was probably what gave me the bug to make people laugh, to entertain people.

And then from there on, I suppose going through magic, but that kind of fell through—I had one of those kids’ magic boxes, and they put me off magic for a little while. Then I found music, which was my first love, I guess, in terms of performing, and then when I rediscovered magic, magic just paid a lot better (laughs). So that distracted me from the music, and I guess I’m trying to bring it all back together again.

Going back, how old were you when you fell in love with music?

I think I was about 15 when I started writing songs. I’d be daydreaming in class really and being emo and writing poetry, and then I turned the poetry into music. I was big into bands back in the ‘90s, like Oasis and Offspring… I think in the early days, a bit of Black Sabbath. I think that’s kind of where I got into power chords and stuff like that. But I guess with the music, even though I was listening to heavier stuff, I was always more into the storytelling side, like the song. You know, people sing songs, and they will tell stories, and I think that’s how my songwriting was kind of inspired, more so than from the doom and gloom of heavy metal.

Funnily enough, the songs that I would write when I was younger weren’t really based on experience. It was just kind of like me trying to sound like an adult at 15 years old. In a weird way, some of the things kind of came true, like leaving Singapore and coming to Australia. I had songs about moving away and relationships that I never had at the time; songs about drugs, which I hadn’t tried yet (laughs). Almost like a premonition, or maybe I was manifesting through songwriting.

So in terms of the show, I suppose the crux is that the main takeaway was storytelling. And so when I came to stand-up comedy more recently, it’s all based on storytelling.

So while you still had a headful for music and you liked performance, you tried magic and then stand-up comedy, and things started moving…

It was music first; I had the taste from kindergarten. Then there was a bit of magic, but I never took that seriously. You know, it’s being the class clown. Then from music, my first gigs were at The Swan, at the Swan Lounge back in the day. And then my first city gig was at the Hydey—the old Hydey back when it was a lot dingier. And I think I’ve still got a sticker on one of the fire hydrants outside (laughs). This was with my solo stuff; it was always the singer/songwriter telling a story; the band stuff came much later on.

Walking away from that and into magic and comedy, how did that happen?

So it was music into magic. Magic was, I suppose, the one that took off the biggest, and comedy is probably the most recent, I think, that I started getting into.

It’s probably an unusual route for a musician to take! There must have been some real momentum happening to pick up between one and the other…

I guess with music, because I was always doing originals—I wasn’t really into cover bands and stuff like that—it was harder to build an audience. Being a singer/songwriter, it was always like quiet open mics and a lot of honesty through music.

Then with magic, I suppose I got to be more of a persona. I got to be a bit more of a personality. It was more about performance. I didn’t have to reveal myself, so to speak. In fact, my job was to hide more than to reveal. So then I spent the next 18 years until now as a magician. So this show is coming back to the musical roots and being a bit honest and telling stories again.

What’s it been like to bring music back under the umbrella of the magic and the comedy?

Well, I suppose music never quite went away fully. Music was always there. I was in a band for a little while, a hard rock band called Dry Dry River. So that was good, because I suppose it was the first time I was doing music without having to play an instrument. And so it was just a microphone, and the songwriting was a lot more aggressive. So I guess I didn’t have to be that vulnerable with the music, you know? So that kind of carried on… like the performer/magician, I could become the performer/musician without hiding behind my instrument and having hair all over my face. That was a lot more theatrical.

And then after the end of the band, magic carried through, but I suppose I got the itch for music to come back, and I picked up the ukulele from my teaching job. Luckily, at the school, they don’t play with recorders (laughs), and because I played guitar for a long time, it was quite easy to transfer the skills over.

Then I found a love for playing covers. Whereas with the guitar, I refused to play covers before, but with the ukulele, I really enjoy playing them. I really enjoy doing renditions of songs that people do not expect on a ukulele.

Do you want to name any of those songs that are in the show?

Two or three years ago I did a ukulele show at Fringe, and my selling point was that, ‘there’ll be no Riptide, no Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and no Wonderwall.’

So you’re happy to say what’s not in the show rather than what is?

I like surprising people with my ukulele covers!

What’s it like to combine all three of your passions?

Yeah, music, storytelling—using music and magic to enhance the story. I’ve always tried to avoid crossing the streams, I suppose, of the different things that I do. Even though they’ve always been under Jon Madd, whether it was Boylesque or Australia’s Got Talent, or music or magic, it was always Jon Madd, but I’ve always done them separately. I’ve left a trail for people to follow if they’re interested, but this is the first time I get to mix them up.

Is it liberating?

Rather than liberating, I think it feels more consolidating. Whereas before I would branch out separately, and as I said, leave a trail for people who are interested enough to find me. Now, it’s about all the things that I’ve done. I’m finally pulling them together and saying, ‘all roads lead back to me.’

Jon Madd’s Box Of Tricks is showing at Le Roi at Belgian Beer Cafe from Tuesday, February 11 until Sunday, February 16, 2025. Tickets are on sale now from fringeworld.com.au