If you meet a neatly dressed, unassuming, absolutely ordinary married man in his 30s, beware. Check that his name is not Doc Johnson, Nick the Greek, Mystic Nick or His Holiness Nicholas J Johnson, Third Incarnation of Goddess Gelar. If it is any of these, or even plain Nicholas J Johnson, then watch your watch in case it disappears as happened once to an FBI agent at a social function, right here in Canberra.
The FBI man protested far too much about his importance, so Nick Johnson, Entertainer Extraordinaire, nicked his watch. 45 minutes later, surrounded by all and sundry, Johnson innocently approached our FBI friend. "I think, maybe, this watch is yours?" said he, to its owner's fury and everyone else's titters.
Johnson has been a traditional clown, working professionally in circus and character roles for 8 years, and is well-known as a children's entertainer (laugh@funnybones.com.au). But his work has shifted, especially through his less generally known employment by corporate organisations, away from the clown role towards a kind of Rod Quantok (Australia You're Standing In It, Bus, Son of Bus and Cap'n Snooze ads) with the extra skills of a magician.
How to Cheat Friends and Incriminate People is his first straight stage show, at The Street Theatre, February 22 to 25. "Straight" might not be the best description, but Johnson sees himself rather more like a stand-up comedian than clown. He objects to the idea that he is an "artist", but is happy to be an "entertainer". But in my view, after an hour and a half's solid talk, there's more to this performer than meets the eye (or often doesn't when the sleight of hand gets out of hand).
Young Nicholas began his illusionist career at the age of 10, but I found it significant that his first straight acting role was in acclaimed Canberra director Carol Woodrow's 1994 production of Six Characters in Search of an Author. At 14, Johnson played The Boy, who is killed backstage, presumably murdered, in a play deliberately designed so that the audience would believe that the death was real. Luigi Pirandello, in 1921, was probably the first playwright to so directly challenge his audience's belief in the "boundary between illusion and reality, truth and make-believe, on the stage as well as in daily life" as theatre commentator Martin Esslin puts it.
Johnson tried out for straight actor training after leaving Hawker College but found the audition process "ridiculous" and saw the tertiary course as creating theatre "workhorses and mechanics". So, seeking freedom of thought and action, in addition to an Arts degree in Sociology, English, Drama and Philosophy he studied the arts of all kinds of con artists, including professional card sharps, pickpockets, the sellers of spurious potions, the purveyors of spiritual guff, mystics who manipulate in darkened seances, as well as expanding his repertoire of standard magician's tricks.
So you will be entertained by, and be fooled by Doc Johnson, the Snake Oil merchant and his Memory Tonic, the Gambler Nick the Greek, Mystic Nick the Medium (who works in the "dark" with the lights on) and the ultimate Guru His Holiness etc etc etc who will prove to you that he is divine. The entertainment comes with biting satire. One wonders how the psychic cards will stack up among the myriad memory training courses and spiritual experience lectures that regularly manifest themselves in our halls and meeting rooms like carpet sales at the Albert Hall.
I wondered if Johnson had been able to keep his wife in the manner to which she was previously accustomed, and she claimed he does as well financially as other middle class professionals. He says that he does not take corporate work where he disagrees with the company's message - though one tobacco company which remains nameless fooled him by employing him under a spurious company name. So as an illusionist he is not entirely perfect. However I lost 3 times in a row in the gambling game he showed me.
He also does not use "blue" material - "I don't need to" - but he was a successful security guard at a bomb data conference surrounded by the world's uniformed police. It was here he beat a Canadian Mountie (who I suppose was dressed in red) at three card monte using tricks he learnt from a Sydney casino card sharp.
Of course, Nicholas J Johnson is really plain Nicholas. He put the J in to distinguish himself from the other 2 Nicholas Johnsons in Canberra, and to give him credibility with Americans, especially FBI agents.
How to Cheat Friends and Incriminate People
Nicholas J Johnson at The Street Theatre
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday February 22 - 25 7pm; and
Friday and Saturday February 24 - 25 9pm
All Tickets $15. Bookings: 6247 1223
© Frank McKone, Canberra
No comments:
Post a Comment