No, today is not the day when we tell you about the stories of Magic Mike. There are lots of them, but they will be told some other day. Today we will talk about another important Australian magician: James Galea.
It may be difficult to think of an Australian magician. When you think of magicians, you probably think of someone with a top hat, a swirly moustache with a French accent. It does not have to be that way. James Galea, one of the most accomplished close-up magicians of the world, is living proof that you do not need to be a Frenchman with a swirly moustache, or a flamboyant American in Las Vegas, to be a great magician.
This famous Australian magician started his studies at 14 years of age, and is the living proof that practice makes perfect -- since he practiced his tricks for 8 hours a day. (Put curiosity aside, it turns out Galea's mentor, an Australian magician himself, was using his "powers" for evil. Using sleight of hand to cheat in high stakes poker).
By eighteen years of age his magic was so good that he got to perform at the wedding of the Australian millionaire James Parker. Parker, son of the media mogul Kerry Packer, could probably have booked David Copperfield had he wanted to, but being chosen for the wedding was quite an honor for the young Australian magician.
A few years later, in 2002, Galea was declared the Australian magician of the year in the category of close up magic, and he went on to achieve fame and fortune in America; heading up his own shows at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and later returning to Australia in order to make his own six part series "Urban magic."
A show by the Australian magician, called "I hate rabbits" premiered in Sydney in 2008, and is still quite successful today, with sellout crowds and nation-wide broadcasts.
"Galea elevates familiar tricks to a new level thanks to charming showmanship and audience interaction". “Rip it up”, says the reviews of his performance at the Adelaide 2009 fringe festival. Actively challenging the crowd to unmask his tricks via the use of a live HD camera feed capturing his every move, James reveals in breaking his own rules, mingling with the crowd and delivering more card tricks than a credit scammer."
With scammers in mind, Galea is also co-writing the movie "Lying cheating bastard", the history of infamous con-man Jimmy 'the Cricket' Garcia. While the plot is not exactly related to Australian magicians, it has several elements that make it resonate with the experience of Galea -- in the world of gangsters and cons where the finest trickery is often required. However, the result of a botched card trick onstage is plain embarrassment, while a botched trick at the gangster’s den is often paid with life.
You can probably hire Galea too, since his website has a section dedicated to corporate customers and explaining the concept of corporate magic. However, chances are you won't be able to book the young Australian magician for your company picnic or your kid's birthday party. His usual clients include giants like Microsoft, Ford, Telstra, Disney and IBM so unless you have thousands of dollars lying around and your kid happens to love card sharks, you should probably stick with Magic Mike.
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Thanks so much, Sara. (Brisbane)
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