The Billet Article - Tony Rix Lecture

This article is taken from The Billet Issue - 429 - Dec 2007, Authored by Gary Brook

Tony Rix Lecture

On arriving at the hall, I was approached by Stevie B thrusting a notebook into my hands. He thanked me for volunteering to do this report. No probs Stevie, you can rely on me!

Well, all the reports I've done so far have not been too difficult with plenty of magic, easy to remember. Unfortunately for me, Tony's lecture wasn't so much magic but comedy. The problem with that is, I was laughing for most of the lecture and forgot to take notes. However, I will try and give you the basics of how the evening went.

Up first was Colin, and it was evident that Colin was a fan so I knew it would be very good. Tony explained that he wasn't a professional, just a very keen amateur, and that he worked for Network Rail as an engineer. He explained how he felt that comedy compliments the magic, and about entertaining and how much he loved it. He told how he couldn't sleep sometimes as he would lie awake thinking about a show and how it had gone well or if it could have been improved. It didn't always go well, as we all know. Well I know anyway and Paul Sunderland definitely does.

Tony told about an evening when he was entertaining at a synagogue, and how nobody laughed at his joke, e.g. he said that he wasn't Jewish but he was saving up to be one. He then went on to show several clips on DVD from his shows of people laughing. This laughing, he explained, would go on for 30 seconds, 50 seconds or over a minute then explained that all he had to do was nothing. Easy money!!

Tony then explained about what he felt was important in being a magical comedy entertainer. To be seen and to be heard. He had two sound systems, in case one went wrong. He would also use a portable stage and spider backdrop and curtain. He told how he preferred to sit behind the spider whilst waiting to go on rather than being in a dressing room as he could get a feel for the audience.

Tony then showed us a couple of routines and their workings. Card on chair and a magic clock. His chair routine was fantastic as he let the volunteer be the magician, and he was the stooge. Very funny and the chair prop that loaded the card under the person was amazing, but Tony also showed how it could be done with a normal chair by dropping the card behind the person. His clock routine was very good and it was all patter and jokes. The actual trick was very simple and remote controlled. He had two clocks because it was his favourite routine, in case one didn't work. The clocks came from the USA and he told me they cost $1,400 each. He then explained about another prop he used, a bubblegum machine from which a borrowed ring could be produced. He showed us a DVD of a performance with this prop, explaining how he loaded the ring into the machine. One of our members was so impressed with this he has gone out and bought one. Not mentioning any names but if Mark Waddington was married, he wouldn't be spending that sort of money on a trick.

Tony went on to talk about how he gets a lot of his jokes from the Internet, and good comedy DVDs. Ken Dodd's was a particular favourite. He kept all his jokes on cards in files so he could remove them and hide them behind props when performing. He had files purely with golf jokes in as he did many cabarets for Golf Clubs. He also spoke briefly about hecklers and how to stop them. He also explained how he would analyse his shows by watching DVD recordings of them. He explained that he would use a battery tester so that all his equipment was charged up and wouldn't let him down in a performance. This just shows, for an amateur, he was more professional than most in my opinion. The last thing Tony showed us was a card sword which was made by Frank Preston. Tony loved this prop and showed us his blindfold and then a clip of the routine on DVD. This was hilarious as a woman volunteer threw the cards in the air before she was supposed to, due to Tony's amazing comedy timing. Tony finished off by showing a card fountain and its workings, before Colin thanked him for his lecture.

I would just like to add, this report cannot do justice to how funny Tony was and that I am looking forward to seeing him perform very soon.

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