The Naked Magicians: Disappearing act

The Naked Magicians.

Is this the cheekiest act of the Comedy Festival? One-half of Aussie duo The Naked Magicians tells us about their accidental 'orgy' of comedy, magic and nudity.

How does one become a Naked Magician - and why should people come to your show?

Tyler: It's an orgy of magic, comedy and nudity. It's all interweaved. We promise three things: we promise it's one of the most amazing magic shows you'll see; we promise non-stop laughs; and we promise full frontal nudity. But we like to make the audience work for it. We start clothed, and get naked throughout the show, kind of like a first Tinder date where you're guaranteed some nudity at the end.

What came first? The magic, the comedy or the stripping?

We've both been magicians for some time. We're definitely not strippers but we thought, "What better way to attract an audience that otherwise wouldn't see a normal magic show than add in that naughtiness, cheekiness and nudity?"

Is there more nudity in the show now than when you started?

Yes. When we started, we didn't show our magic wands. There was always something strategically placed in front of them, like a playing card. We realised with the name that people really did want to see everything. It would be a little boring if we got naked straight away. They'd get over it. Getting to that part where you get it out in front of 200-300 people was really daunting. But you'd be surprised how applause and positive audience reaction makes you feel about baring all.

Have there been any mishaps?

I don't throw knives anywhere near my bits. Chris would like to tell you he's still nine inches. There haven't been any mishaps but we've had some interesting things happen on stage. Sometimes small things go wrong, but that happens with different audiences every night. I had a girl that got a little bit Fifty Shades of f***ed-up on stage. She tied me up, kneed me in the back, pushed me to the ground and rubbed my face on the floor. It was getting too wild but the audience was loving it.

Does being a naked magician make it hard to hold down a relationship?

We're both single. It's hard to travel around doing a magic show in the buff and hold down a relationship. We did have girlfriends when we started creating the show, but it's no surprise we're now both single. That explains how they felt. All our families are really supportive. Chris used to work weighing cocoa at Arnott's biscuit factory. Anything's a step up from that.

Who: Mike Tyler and Christopher Wayne, aka Aussie comedy duo The Naked Magicians
Where and when: Performing May 12-16, Comedy Chamber, Auckland Town Hall

- TimeOut