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Xavier Mortimer debuted his new show “The Dream Maker” at the Strat Theater last week.
Wednesday, July 7, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Several Las Vegas entertainers — especially magicians — devoted some time to developing digital content and shooting fun videos during the shutdown of 2020. But Xavier Mortimer went big into that world, investing a substantial amount of time, money and creativity into the production of a series of online-only videos showing off his unique illusions.
And it paid off. His videos went viral, collecting billions of views and building a following of around 10 million people on his various web channels.
“I believe social media is the next step for everything that is reality, and by reality I mean us magicians and performers who belong to that world of unscripted shows,” Mortimer says in this week’s Sun on the Strip. “It’s just a great way to put magic out there. The big switch for me was I did something no one has attempted before: I produced a grand illusion for a three-minute video. No magician would ever do that because you think, I’m going to spend $5,000 for a video on Facebook that maybe 100 people will see? No. But I had building a [presence online] and thought, maybe this is the moment I should really invest and make these videos a little more produced.”
The results find Mortimer magically suspended from the side of a building after the tower of cardboard boxes holding him up comes crashing down. In another video, the French illusionist cuts himself in half and gets his friends to put his animated torso on a bicycle for a quick ride through the park.
The reality TV-style videos maintain the magical effects without looking too overproduced, and all that work helped Mortimer develop a new appreciation for a different creative outlet.
“I’m a performer at heart, this is what I’ve been doing since I was a kid. But when I do videos, I dive into it for a week or two or maybe a month and there’s so much creativity,” he says. “I like the process. It’s like, let’s create more magic, put it out there, this one is done and now let’s do the next one.”
Last week, Mortimer reopened a new version of his Las Vegas show, “The Dream Maker,” in a new venue, the Strat Theater. After first landing on the Strip to perform in Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson ONE,” the multitalented entertainer ventured out on his own, opening a solo show at Planet Hollywood then moving to Bally’s.
At the Strat, the biggest venue he’s taken his solo show so far, Mortimer is adding some of those tricks developed for the internet and taking advantage of the space and capabilities to expand his production.
“I’m just excited. It’s been a tough time and now I feel everyone is just so excited to go see live performances,” he says. “I love doing those videos and stuff, but being live with an audience, gathering people together, making people smile, it’s something I was missing. It feels now like you have to think different and be different after [the pandemic], and maybe something different comes out of you because of that change.”
Find this week’s Vegas entertainment news, interviews and more every Wednesday with the Sun on the Strip.
