Xavier Mortimer: There's Magic in the Air at The STRAT
- Details
- Category: Celebrity Insider
- Published on Tuesday, 14 September 2021 16:02
- Written by Bobbie Katz
While now you see it, now you don’t, the difference between magicians, it is told, is the way each “dresses” an illusion. That’s why sometimes the fact that there are only 12 principles of magic doesn’t quite reflect the entire tale. Take Xavier Mortimer, who is performing at The STRAT, for example. When it comes to “dressing” illusions, his magical mirror tells a whole different story.
It is within his storytelling that Mortimer has earned his reputation in the magical kingdom as being truly unique. Hailing from the south of France and trained as a dancer and a musician, he has combined his various talents with his own brand of illusion in what he calls “magic that he makes sense of.”
“I’m telling stories with my illusions,” says Mortimer. “They are organic and they are things that are in everyday life but they become magical. For example, I sweep with a broom and it starts to fly. But there’s a story behind it. It takes on a life of its own. I try to catch it in the air – it’s alive.”
Although Mortimer discovered magic as a child, he put it on the sidelines to train as a dancer and musician. Wanting something more, he eventually combined those two arts with a short demonstration of magic. He then was able to offer a complete show, what he terms “a real performance.”
“It was when I started working as a professional comedian that I wanted to get back to magic,” he remembers. “I had my own show in France. Then, in 2012, I came to Las Vegas to perform in Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson ONE” I was onstage five or six minutes throughout the show – I wore a blue beanie and a backpack and I was the one chasing Michael Jackson’s glove. I was in that show from 2013-2016 and then a friend, Alex Goude, convinced me that I should have my own show. He helped me write it and he directed it – he was my producer/director in France. I then opened at Planet Hollywood for two years then moved on to Bally’s in 2019. Then the pandemic hit.”
Now ensconced in a bigger and better room at The Strat, Mortimer says that his show is 25 percent new. The two tenets of his performance, he notes, is that it’s something that is seemingly impossible to audiences and that it brings them into a different world.”
“You being them into your world, into your story,” he explains.
Mortimer’s show is composed of 14 acts. Insofar as those 12 principles of magic are concerned, he says that everything relates to principles.
“A musician wouldn’t use notes that no one uses,” he says making a comparison. “But what makes all those myriads of songs out there is the arrangement. The notes are arranged in a special way that no one has done before to make a song very different than the others. I consider myself an artist. I want to express something that is truth to me. My inspiration is music, dance, and comedy. They inspire me a lot. A lot of art inspires me, too,”
“I try to make something different every time I touch one of these tricks,” he sums up. “.I’m grateful for being here and performing every night.”
It’s a story that’s just waiting to be told.
While now you see it, now you don’t, the difference between magicians, it is told, is the way each “dresses” an illusion. That’s why sometimes the fact that there are only 12 principles of magic doesn’t quite reflect the entire tale. Take Xavier Mortimer, who is performing at The STRAT, for example. When it comes to “dressing” illusions, his magical mirror tells a whole different story.
It is within his storytelling that Mortimer has earned his reputation in the magical kingdom as being truly unique. Hailing from the south of France and trained as a dancer and a musician, he has combined his various talents with his own brand of illusion in what he calls “magic that he makes sense of.”
“I’m telling stories with my illusions,” says Mortimer. “They are organic and they are things that are in everyday life but they become magical. For example, I sweep with a broom and it starts to fly. But there’s a story behind it. It takes on a life of its own. I try to catch it in the air – it’s alive.”
Although Mortimer discovered magic as a child, he put it on the sidelines to train as a dancer and musician. Wanting something more, he eventually combined those two arts with a short demonstration of magic. He then was able to offer a complete show, what he terms “a real performance.”
“It was when I started working as a professional comedian that I wanted to get back to magic,” he remembers. “I had my own show in France. Then, in 2012, I came to Las Vegas to perform in Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson ONE” I was onstage 5 or 6 minutes throughout the show – I wore a blue beanie and a backpack and I was the one chasing Michael Jackson’s glove. I was in that show from 2013-2016 and then a friend, Alex Goude, convinced me that I should have my own show. He helped me write it and he directed it – he was my producer/director in France. I then opened at Planet Hollywood for two years then moved on to Bally’s in 2019. Then the pandemic hit.”
Now ensconced in a bigger and better room at The Strat, Mortimer says that his show is 25 percent new. The two tenets of his performance, he notes, is that it’s something that is seemingly impossible to audiences and that it brings them into a different world.”
“You being them into your world, into your story,” he explains.
Mortimer’s show is composed of 14 acts. Insofar as those 12 principles of magic are concerned, he says that everything relates to principles.
“A musician wouldn’t use notes that no one uses,” he says making a comparison. “But what makes all those myriads of songs out there is the arrangement. The notes are arranged in a special way that no one has done before to make a song very different than the others. I consider myself an artist. I want to express something that is truth to me. My inspiration is music, dance, and comedy. They inspire me a lot. A lot of art inspires me, too,”
“I try to make something different every time I touch one of these tricks,” he sums up. “.I’m grateful for being here and performing every night.”
It’s a story that’s just waiting to be told.