Women - is your orgasm all in HIS mind?
Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 11:23AM With his incredible and rare talents Nicholas Tweedy has stunned audiences all around the world, from the dark old European forests of Transylvania to the bright lights of Las Vegas Boulevard. As an entertainer Nicholas Tweedy is one of the last remaining mentalists performing today. In a world where most people have forgotten what mentalism is Nicholas is redefining the art with every performance.
Cabaret Confessional spoke to Nick ahead of his performances at the Cavern Club at Adelaide Fringe 2010
You are known as a mentalist. Can you explain who a mentalist is and what they do?
Mentalist are very specialized type of illusionist. I mentalist plays tricks on your head not just your eyes.
You met your mentor Hiroshi Demura while you were living with your family in Japan. How did you make a connection with him? Did you seek him out after a show, or did you meet him by chance?
Being a military family my mother always found creative ways of supplementing the family income. One of those she did for a few years was to teach english classes to Japanese teenagers in our home. Two of the girls she taught were daughters of Hiroshi and our families became close.
In his book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell asserts that to achieve true expertise in your chosen field you must spend 10,000 hours developing your craft and technique. What sort of dedication did you have as a young man to honing your skills?
I worked with Hiroshi for about 2-5 hours a day, 5 days a week for my 12 year apprenticeship. Since then I have trained with many magicians all over the world and continue to create my own unique brand of mentalism/magic.
Who inspires you in what you do?
Two of my all time favorite mentalists would have to be Tony Corinda and Doc Shiels.
When you step out on to the stage, what affect do you hope to have on your audience?
I want to amaze and entertain. I want to raise questions in the most die-hard skeptic.
Audiences watching your show are bound to wonder “how does he do it?” When you are watching another mentalist or illusionist can you usually recognise the skills and sleights being used or does each performer have their own techniques to disguise and achieve their intended results?
Illusionists use many of the same tools, even though the illusions themselves may look dramatically different. So most of the time I can usually figure out the How’s of an Illusion, however, its the performance I always love to see and how another expert can see things in a completely different light.
I am a piano player. When I perform, occasionally music is blown off my music stand and I’m left stranded - trying to cover as best I can, making up music on the spot. What sort of situations can you end up in when your instruments don’t perform as expected?
I once set my beard on fire during a show in a casino in mexico….luckily for me there was a lady with quick hands and a full glass of white wine in the front row.
You promise to perform your controversial orgasm routine in this show. According to the claims, you can use your mental abilities to give a woman an orgasm live on stage. Does this suggest that the concept of the female orgasm is merely an illusion?
Everything we experience in life is in part an illusion.
AMAZED - NICHOLAS TWEEDY IS THE REALITY BENDER
Venue: The Cavern Club
27 Feb @ 6.00pm, 9-13 March @ 7.00pm
19-20, 25-26 Feb, 7 March @ 7.30pm
All tickets $28.50
Book at FringeTIX (1300-FRINGE) or click here.
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Other cabaret shows featured in Adelaide Fringe 2010:
Ali McGregor on James Morrison and Jazz Cigarettes
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except for Melissa, Mark and Libby)
Nikki Aitken Presents - Cabaret Live and Kicking
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