Did you know that the most popular magician on social media is not an American? It is rather the Frenchman Xavier Mortimer, who has more than 15 billion views on the platforms. And he will perform a series of shows in Montreal during the holiday season.
In his videos, Xavier Mortimer flies behind a grocery cart or pedals a bicycle while his body is cut in two. Containing very little dialogue, the short clips lasting a few minutes quickly spread across the globe.
“If I don’t get five million views for a video, I delete it,” says the 40-year-old magician in all seriousness.
A true rural video machine, Xavier Mortimer only started making online content in 2020. The reason? The pandemic had closed all the performance venues and he suddenly found himself with a lot of free time.
Just before, since 2016, Xavier Mortimer presented a show in Las Vegas which was among the most acclaimed. And the previous three years, he had played the character of Sneaky in the Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson: ONE.
Paid videos
The pandemic changed everything for him. After a few weeks of posting magic tricks on platforms, Xavier received help from a friend to monetize his videos. “After three months, I was already earning more than I did when I played in Las Vegas!” he said.
Today still based in Nevada, Xavier Mortimer very rarely returns to Europe. He has his production company in Vegas and he spends most of his days creating his videos.
His work on the platforms had become so time-consuming, and profitable, that the magician made a decision that would have been unthinkable a few years ago: he decided to stop doing residency shows in Vegas to concentrate on his videos !
“When I played in Las Vegas, it was a show every night,” he said. I wanted to focus on my online content.”
On a large scale
Having grown up in French theaters, Xavier Mortimer does not turn his back on the stage, far from it. Recently engaged with a company bookingthe magician will perform more than ten shows in Montreal next month. These will be his first solos in Quebec. Tickets are selling so well that his collaborators already have their eye on Toronto, Chicago and New York for next year.
In Master of MagicXavier Mortimer will do some large-scale physical numbers. But this Charlie Chaplin lover has also planned some more poetic moments and even some… juggling! “It’s one of the strongest numbers in the show,” says the man who did acrobatics and physical theater in his youth.
Xavier Mortimer’s show will be presented from December 17 to 29 at the Rialto Theater in Montreal. For details: xaviermagic.com.
