James Phelan’s new show, The Dreamer, is opening at the Edinburgh Fringe next month. It follows the success of his long-running The Greatest Magician and starts a wider tour in the UK.
We asked him to tell us a bit more about the show and the story behind it.
“Touching on his parents’ 12 year struggle with IVF, The Dreamer is a celebration of the impossible becoming possible. With magic unparalleled elsewhere at Fringe, this show will leave you aching with laughter and dizzy in disbelief.”
Where: Underbelly’s Circus Hub
When: 3-11, 13-18, 20-24 Aug
Ticket link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/dreamer-live
So, let’s start with talking about you. There’s magic in your family?
Yes, my mother’s sister is Debbie McGee so Paul Daniels was my uncle. My previous show, The Greatest Magician, was kind of a love letter to him.
From when I was tiny, in my room with a magic box, I wanted to be a magician.
But after three years doing that show I realised there were much more important things in my life I wanted to do a show about.
Your new show, The Dreamer,is still personal but looks at how you became the miracle baby in your family. Tell me more about that.
So, the story goes that when my aunt Debbie was growing up, she always wanted to be in showbiz and wanted to be a dancer, but my mum always wanted a family.
My parents tried to have kids for 12 years. They were married in 1980 and there weren’t a lot of options available. They were always told it wasn’t possible for them.
They looked at adoption and all sorts of things. Then my mum started writing letters to people who she thought could help and she got one back from Robert Winston, who thought something might be possible.
So, several trips to Hammersmith Hospital later, here I was, and later my brother came along.
The Dreamer is the first time I am talking about this story. When you’re 4 years old it doesn’t mean anything, but as I’ve grown older I now understand you can do anything you want in life. It’s interesting.
It’s also funny, but I also want audiences to feel it, to cry, and to escape.
You’ve played big venues in Las Vegas and everything in-between that and small fringe venues. Do you have any preference about where you like to play?
I don’t particularly have a favourite sort of style. The Fringe this time is the biggest venue I have done there, around 600 seats. It’s in the circus hub for the Underbelly. There’s amazing stuff I can do with the show to make 600 seats feel like 100.
It’s about the energy in the space. I think people have to feel part of the show. You know, television is the same, you want to feel like you are in someone’s living room. My whole show is about building rapport with the audience for that reason, getting that personal connection.
The secret is being able to translate your show into something special when you are only there for one night.
What’s happening after Edinburgh?
I’m going to take a couple of weeks off, go on holiday, then The Dreamer tours in October. I think I have around 40 dates, some are 2 or 3 night runs.
For more on the tour visit: https://thedreamerlive.com/