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kitsch or art? Both! With charm, chutzpah and bad tricks, two amateur magicians conquer the streets and the net. What is it about the TikTok stars Siegfried & Joy?
What does the «magic» of Siegfried & Joy look like? A waving golden curtain, dramatic music by Celine Dion – then the curtain falls and Siegfried, who was behind it at the beginning of the “trick”, has disappeared. Well, he hasn’t completely disappeared. Rather, he hides behind a street sign, clearly visible to the public.
A magic fail? On the contrary: instead of boos, the German magician duo reaped thunderous applause for their transparent tricks.
On TikTok, Siegfried d’Amour and Joy Leslie, as the two are called by their full uncivil names, already have over a million followers. On this platform alone, her videos have over 75 million views. The Internet hype is followed by acclaimed shows all over Germany, in London, Vienna, Zurich and Amsterdam.
Where does the duo’s success come from? Bruce Lee once said: “I don’t fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once. I’m afraid of someone who has practiced a kick 10,000 times.” At Siegfried & Joy it’s not just one kick, but one trick.
Nobody needs to be afraid, because although they have already done the curtain trick 10,000 times, there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to implementation. But of course that’s not the point. Because in addition to her golden appearance and the golden curtain, there is a third faithful companion: self-mockery, the key to success.
Legend:
Siegfried & Joy & self-mockery: the magical duo’s oversized sunglasses hide their wink.
IMAGO/POP EYE
A good magician is able to cleverly draw the audience’s gaze to a certain place, while the real trick happens somewhere else. Siegfried & Joy succeed masterfully. It is true that what is happening behind the curtain is not witchcraft and is quickly deciphered.
But the true transformation does not happen behind the curtain, but in front of it. There, where the viewers least expect it: with themselves. Within seconds, apathetic passers-by are transformed into a cheering audience. Magical!
How did the project come about? Siegfried d’Amour and Joy Leslie, whose name is reminiscent of the famous, much less comical magicians Siegfried and Roy, invent themselves in 2016 and start playing small shows in Germany. Even then, the same magic formula worked: charm, gold curtains and transparent magic tricks.
They won’t let the corona pandemic slow them down. On the contrary. Since the theaters are closed, they turn the street into a stage, passers-by into cameramen and themselves into internet stars.
Consciously doing bad magic – why do you do something like that? The most important thing for Siegfried and Joy is to make people laugh. The audience should – if only for a brief moment – forget everyday life and be enchanted, says Siegfried d’Amour, who competes with his suit for a beaming smile.
What’s next? Dozens of stage shows are planned, many of which are already sold out. They also want to continue to create magic on the road. Whether in Vienna, Berlin or Schmalfunden, the duo doesn’t care: “We bring Las Vegas to where it’s needed.”