We met up with physicist-turned magician Kevin Quantum with a simple question. What followed is a truly uplifting story behind his levitation-based Fringe show.
Kevin, What's your show Anti-Gravity about?
I thought you’d never ask! On the face of it, it’s a fun, beautiful and amazing hour of magic. Surprises, laughs, gasps in large quantities. Slightly below the surface, it's also a magic show with a story and a message. So let me talk about the story first, the magic second and then the message right at the end.
The story! An, as yet, only theorised area of advanced physics - anti-gravity - is brought to life after I (Kevin) binge-watched Series 4 of Star Trek Voyager. What is Anti-Gravity? Well, whilst gravity makes stuff fall down, Anti-Gravity makes the same objects fall up…
In a vastly complicated area of science, an increasingly errant AI is used to “control” the Anti-Gravity field. However, in a Kubrickesque manner, she often deviates from my expectation. The only thing we know is that the field is steadily growing. And with greater field strength come greater levitations and the strange and unusual psychological effects that come along with it.
At the magic level, this show is about levitation - theatrically one of the most beautiful yet challenging areas. Levitation is often associated with magic but so, so rarely seen - because it’s so difficult to accomplish well.
Mastery of set design, lighting, acting as well as the secretive dark art magic techniques come together to allow the spectacle to happen. It really stretches almost every facet of learning I’ve had since becoming a magician but also relies heavily on hidden scientific principles that assist me to give the illusion of levitation on stage.
I’ll be honest, I’ve loved the technical challenge. There’s cutting edge electronics, LED programming, haberdashery and more behind the scenes! Many magicians think that I’m crazy for taking so many risks on stage - magicians can often see the hidden mechanisms or sleights that I use to achieve certain magic effects.
But I just really feel alive when I give an audience member a bit too much leeway, or I’m using a prop that I’ve had to build and design myself using bespoke electronics to make something happen. I just love the buzz of being on the edge. That means a Kevin Quantum show will always be exciting but also will have the qualities of an experiment that could go off on a wildly unexpected tangent…
At its core this show is about the magic inside everyone one of us. The magic that’s on display when you watch a child play with a new toy, or learn a new skill. The magic that, as we get older, is well hidden as we gather ways to protect ourselves after the difficult moments that life can throw at us. Well as I strip back the opening magic effect, to its core, as I remove, one by one your expectations, your assumptions, the sensory overloads, then all you’re left with is the magic.
If I can inspire you to reveal your magic after watching my show then I’ll consider my job well done and leave the theatre on cloud nine.