Although Barry Potter and the Magic of Wizardry isn’t headed to the Vancouver Fringe Festival, fans will have to check social media to find where Tim Motley will be performing next. I’m sure this talented magician-comedian has a lot more shows lined up during the remainder of this year, and as for what he’ll do afterwards, we have to wait and see.
As a fan of his works, namely his Dirk Darrow adventures, I knew I had to ask him about why change it up? As stated before in my review, he’s not retiring the character. Instead, he’s expanding his repertoire, and it’ll be interesting to see if his Barry persona will include brand-new adventures instead of recapping the Harry Potter universe, which is what his latest play does from an outsider’s perspective.
The following is my brief interview with him after the show:
When did you get the idea to create Barry Potter?
It was a few years ago. I had a girlfriend who was a Harry Potter fanatic, and we’d watch all the movies together. He was the biggest thing in magic since Houdini. He’s bigger, and also the whole world [this character lives in] is a massive pop culture phenomenon. I asked why isn’t there a magic show too?
I looked into it, and I tossed around the idea for me to do it instead. But I don’t even have an English accent [to pull the performance off]. Like, how can I possibly do justice to it? I gave it a go in January of this year, and now it’s like gangbusters–I’m taking it on the road!
It’s nice to see that a lot of fringe festivals are featuring your show. For those curious, which city did it debut in?
It was Perth Fringe world, the third largest. And then I went to Adelaide, the world’s second largest, and then Winnipeg and then Edinburgh–the world’s number one. It was close to sold out for the entire run. It was rough for Perth, since they lost a sponsor.
Was it tough to find who you wanted to be as a character?
Barry is a very playful, very different character. But when you look at the lore, you might think Harry is an outsider. He’s always struggling to find his place. Some might say he’s the least empathetic.
As for what your act is about, was it difficult to incorporate your card tricks (like telling Harry Potter’s story with a full deck of cards) and mentalism?
It’s like running a song. I had to sit down and work away at how the show can work and ask, how can the books fit? And to put it all in the big story, I actually did a spreadsheet and put all the cards down, taking them off and moving them around when I could find a joke or a bit of the story element. And then there were a few left at the end where I had to ask, “what am I going to do with these remaining cards?”
In terms of humour, is it difficult to pull off those puns and wordplay, so it sounds like it’s been improved?
Wordplay is the least appreciated in the form of humour, but I love it. It gives me joy. As for a good pun, everybody knows critics hate it, but I love it. So I keep doing it.
What would you say to those purists (who don’t like parody) and are hesitant to see your show?
Barry Potter and the Magic of Wizardry is a fun time with characters that you should be familiar with. It’s not too heavy in the lore, and overall what you’re experiencing is an adventure.
