Comic magician/television host Justin Willman — we’ve long known him by his former stage name Justin Kredible — is coming back to the Gaslight Theatre next week for three shows.
We caught up with the host of Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” as he prepared for his tenth visit to Tucson. We chatted about his magic and his new Food Network game show, this one centered on ice cream, that’s set to debut in late July.
“To a lot of people, I’m the cupcake guy. But I have no culinary knowledge whatsoever,” said Willman, whose “Cupcake Wars” is no longer being produced.
But he does know a thing or two about magic.
How the magic all began: “When I was 12, I was trying to impress some girls by riding my bike while wearing Rollerblades at the same time, and it did not end well. I flew over the handlebars and broke both arms simultaneously, was in casts for six months. My doctor just randomly recommended that I learn card tricks — and that’s what got me into magic.”
The magic of magic: “When you’re a kid, it’s super exciting to do something that grownups don’t really understand. ... As an adult, what I love about magic is the feeling of mystery and wonder, which is a beautiful, natural human emotion. I feel like our society has gotten so high-tech and jaded and cynical, you know, our phones do miracles on a daily basis and we really take it for granted, but I feel like giving people the feeling of mystery and awe and wonder has never been more important than now.”
For kids, for families, for everyone: “It’s really fun being able to do a show where you can entertain teenagers in one way while simultaneously entertaining adults with humor that goes over the teenager’s head.”
A home away from home: “I can walk on the (Gaslight) stage and kind of touch people, literally, and it’s just the perfect setup for a performer. It kind of has a vaudeville vibe that I love. So I just think that you step in there and look around and see little remnants and relics of shows in the past and it’s kind of cool to be backstage and just look at stuff. It’s really nice to perform in a place that has a little character. I mean, you can see the layers of paint on the stage from all the shows that have been done there and that’s what I love about it.”
Something new: “It’s been a little over a year since I’ve been there, so if someone has seen me before, the show is going to be at least half new. Here’s the thing, I have a short attention span and I kind of get bored of doing the same show over and over again. So there will be a ton of new stuff in the show and a ton of new surprises.”
Magic with a mission: “... Even though it’s a comedy, magic show, we kind of touch upon love, living in the moment, and technology, and social networking, and all these kinds of things that we can deal with magic, which people never really think of as a context for serious or important stuff, so I kind of like having a relevant magic show.”
Coming soon: Willman will host a new Food Network show called either “King of Cones” or “Game of Cones,” set to premiere at 8 p.m. July 28. The show will pit talented dessert chefs against each other in a showdown with summer’s favorite treat — ice cream. He also hosts Disney Channel’s “Win, Lose, or Draw.”
