A Magical Marriage

The very name Outerbridge may summon up thoughts of links to other dimensions, magic being a part of that ethereal mosaic.

Pointe Claire resident Ted Outerbridge got his first magician’s kit under the Christmas tree when he was 7 years old. From that moment on, he was stamped with an obsession for the gossamer art of conjuring. And when he was 12 years old, he performed his first professional show for $5 at a friend’s birthday party.

“I did a 15-minute show,” says Outerbridge. “It was both terrifying and exciting. My first trick was making a handkerchief vanish and five minutes into the show it re-appeared hanging out of the back of my jacket. Still, the kids thought that was pretty neat, and I built up to a spectacular finale, when I turned sugar into Smarties. For kids, you can’t go wrong when you make candy appear at the end of the show.”

Inspired by his childhood hero, Montreal’s Magic Tom, Outerbridge hit the libraries and frequented a local magic store/paradise, Morrissey Magic. By 16, he worked at the store, hitting the books in the backroom and hanging with magicians, earning their trust and being privy to their secrets.

Outerbridge: “I realized early on that I wanted to go beyond presenting puzzles and tricks. I wanted to give people goosebumps and something that was meaningful to me. I wanted to move people.”

For the last 13 years, the husband and wife team of Ted and Marion Outerbridge have toured the world with stage acts whose theme has always related to time. This season it is The Time Capsule Tour: It opens with a burglar played by Marion, breaking into the Museum of Time and stealing an hourglass, then literally vanishing. Ted attempts to capture her but is unsuccessful, for the message here is that no one can stop time from disappearing, and consequently each subsequent fast-paced scene is a reminder to celebrate each fleeting moment.

“We all have time issues,” says Marion. “In life, there is never enough time, so we bring families together to celebrate.”

In the production, Ted time-travels by disappearing into a spectacular seven-foot alarm clock. One of the many awe-inspiring moments is his impersonation of a medieval-shaman/healer who performs a scary illusion in which a basket containing Marion is pierced throughout with swords.

Near the end of the show, Ted is placed in a straitjacket and into a box. Represented as a race against time, he has 90 seconds to get out. He re-appears in the audience, holding the missing hourglass.

Ted’s latest brainstorm is the time capsule: In each community they are to perform in, they mail a metal box (padlocked) beforehand. During the performance they take a big beach ball and bounce it through the audience, and the person who catches the ball names a band or singer; the next person comes up with an activity, and finally they ask someone to a draw an image of the town/city. Someone from the audience opens the suspended capsule to reveal a jar inside. It is unscrewed and a giant paper is removed to reveal the same predictions, including a matching drawing.

Recognized as one of the greatest magic acts in Canada, the Outerbridges won the 2011 Award of Excellence from Ontario Contact, an organization of theatre presenters. In 2010, they won Touring Artist of the Year in British Columbia’s equivalent BC Touring Council.

And when asked why people gravitate to magic shows, Ted responds: “The audience goes for the experience of amazement and escapism. The great magicians are entertainers who make people laugh and cry. I always wanted to perform a piece that came right from the heart and moved people to the point of tears. And we did it.” He demonstrates how life is like a piece of thread — it has a beginning and an end, but the important things are the moments in the middle. The thread is broken into pieces representing the moments in time; it’s about the whole journey and how all of these pieces become one thread again in the end.

But perhaps the most magical part of it all is their marriage: Marion says, “We love being together. We miss each other if we’re not together. Nothing is more fun than doing shows together. We visit countries and we don’t have to phone home in loneliness. And what is important to us is that the audience sees how much fun we’re having. We do it from our hearts and we want to share and afterwards meet the audience.”

For more information on this world-class show:
  website: www.tedouterbridge.com or call 877-OUTERBRIDGE

© THE GAZETTE WEST ISLAND by Victor Schukov