Chris Cox (born 21 January 1984 in Bristol) is a mentalist magician – a self-proclaimed "mind reader who can't read minds". On television he stars in "Chris Cox's Mind Blowing Magic" on CBBC & BBC iPlayer and is "The Geek" in the award-winning Killer Magic on BBC Three. He is the only mind reader in history to have played Broadway, London's West End, The Kennedy Centre and Sydney Opera House. He stars in touring stage show The Illusionists and in the West End in Impossible. In his radio career Chris was the writer and producer for Matt Edmondson on BBC Radio 1; the assistant producer on The Chris Moyles Show.
Chris Cox | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 January 1984 Bristol, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Magician Psychological Illusionist/Mentalist |
| Website | http://magiccox.com |
Since 2015 Chris has starred as The Mentalist in The Illusionists and has performed as part of their 2015 season at the Moon Palace Arena in Cancun, 2018 sold out South Africa tour at The Grand West Arena (Cape Town) and The Teatro at Montecasino Johannesburg and the 2018 US Tour[1] performing at venues such as Starlight Theatre (Kansas City, Missouri), Fox Theatre (St. Louis) and Bass Performance Hall.
In December 2018 & January 2019 he starred in The Illusionists Australian Tour[2] at Canberra Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Queensland Performing Arts Centre and Regent Theatre, Melbourne. For spring 2019 Chris headlined The Illusionists Experience at the Eldorado Showroom in Reno before returning for an unprecedented third West End run this time in London's Shaftesbury Theatre with The Illusionists Direct From Broadway.
During the 2019 Holiday Season Chris made his Broadway Debut in The Illusionists – Magic of the Holidays at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway during which he was a featured guest on NBC's Today Show.
In 2020 he took part in his second US Tour with The Illusionists. He returned to touring the US in The Illusionists in 2022, 2023 and 2024 alongside a one off sold out week long runs at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Colonial Theatre (Boston) and Princess of Wales Theatre.
In 2021 Chris co-created and headlined 'Wonderville' which ran for six weeks at Palace Theatre London whilst Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was closed due to the pandemic. In 2022 he played a summer run in Destin Florida starring in the new magic show Presto.
As a magic consultant Chris has created effects for the Punchdrunk The Burnt City, Tambo & Bones at Theatre Royal Stratford East, A Christmas Carol at The Bristol Hippodrome,Barnum (musical) at Menier Chocolate Factory, Dan & Phil's Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire and Dan & Phil's 2018 World Tour, Interactive Introverts and the magic creator for Lapland UK. He is the magic consultant for The Fat Duck Restaurant, Magic & Illusions Assistant For Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at Palace Theatre, London and the Magic & Illusions Associate for Charlie & The Chocolate Factory UK Tour.
In 2018 his CBBC and BBC iPlayer series "Chris Cox's Mind Boggling Magic[3]" launched with ten episodes where Chris reads the minds of children and some of the stars of The Dumping Ground including Annabelle Davis. Chris starred as Muddles alongside her father, Warwick Davis as Muddles in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Pantomime at New Victoria Theatre in 2016.
Cox performed his first major show – entitled Chris Cox He Can Read Minds? – at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Cox's second show, Everything Happens for a Reason ran at the Gilded Balloon during the 2007 Fringe before a one-off performance at the Arts Theatre in London's West End.[4] His show Chris Cox : Control Freak premiered at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Pleasance after which it had a UK Tour and finished with a performance at the Southbank Centre in London. He also performed with Frank Skinner, Jonathan Ross, Tim Minchin and featured on the television programmes The Culture Show and The Mentalist Revealed.
His next major show, entitled "Chris Cox: Mind Over Patter", was premiered at the King Dome of the Pleasance during August 2009. It was met with 5 star reviews and gained Cox the Fest Buzz Twitter of the Year Award. Cox took highlights of the show to the Royal Opera House for a weekend of shows in September 2009. During the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe, he took part in Mark Watson's 24 Hour Show performing various mind-reading stunts including the prediction of Simon Amstell's choice of date in Blind Date. While at the Edinburgh Fringe, he also played the role of Eric Randolf in the Fringe First award-winning The Hotel. Mind Over Patter went on to tour the UK in Spring 2010 before an extended, sell-out run at the 2010 New Zealand Comedy Festival. Cox performed at The Herald Theatre and read the mind of Rove McManus as part of the televised gala. He performed a final version of the show at the Udderbelly in London's Southbank Centre in May 2011 before replacing the show with a new one for the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The 2011 show for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was called "Fatal Distraction". The show weaved a love based narrative around never seen before mind-reading stunts. It gained a collection of five star reviews before embarking on an international tour. Fatal Distraction won the 2011 Venue Magazine award for Best Comedy Show, beating Daniel Kitson (3rd) & The Bath Comedy Festival (2nd.).[5] The show toured as part of the New Zealand Comedy Festival in Auckland & Wellington in 2012 picking up rave reviews. It returned for sell out dates to the Udderbelly in London in Spring 2012, 2013 and again in 2014. During one performance Chris ended up on the shoulders of Jonathan Ross as part of a trick.
Cox performed as part of Robin Ince & Friends at the 2009 TAM London event and again at TAM 2010 supporting his friend Tim Minchin. He appeared as part of Dick & Dom's Funny Business on BBC Two in February 2011. He produced a documentary on Minchin for BBC Radio 1 in December 2011. Cox and Minchin appeared together in an article about their friendship in The Independent in Spring 2012.[6] He also produced Dan and Phil's Guide To Happiness for BBC Radio 1 along with creating the show My Playlist and producing the likes of Daniel Radcliffe, Maisie Williams, Jared Leto, Joss Whedon, Little Mix and others.
In 2012 Chris was invited to perform on the main stage at Shakespeare's Globe, Latitude Festival and Reading Festival. In April 2012 it was announced that Cox was developing a television show with SyFy with the working title of The Chris Cox Project.[7]
In 2014 Chris starred in BBC Three's Killer Magic. In 2014 he appeared with Heston Blumenthal on Heston's Recipe For Romance for Channel 4, this was the start of Cox's creative relationship with Blumenthal. He is a creative consultant for Heston and The Fat Duck, developing unique magic and theatrical effects to go alongside the dining experience.[8]
For five weeks over the summer of 2015 Chris starred in the new West End show[9] 'Impossible (magic show)' at the Noël Coward Theatre to rave reviews. He went on to tour the show round the UK in 2016 as well as star in second West End season before taking the show to Dubai Opera, Kallang Theatre (Singapore), Beirut and a Christmas Season at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila.
On 17 December 2023, he performed at St. Petersburg, Florida, as the mentalist for The Illusionists.
Chris is the Co-Producer for Mario The Maker Magician's live shows.
The Guardian has called him "One of the most exciting entertainers in Britain"[10] and Time Out once said he "does tricks that would make Jesus proud".[11]
Colin Murray was the co-director of his early stage shows, and was once a flatmate of Cox.
Outside of the world of magic Cox works alongside Matt Edmondson on TVOD for ITV2, produced the documentaries 'The Story of Tim Minchin', 'Scott Mill's Perfect Christmas Single' and Dan & Phil's Guide To Happiness for BBC Radio 1. He produced the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve Fireworks, was the Programme Associate for BBC One's show 'Now You See It'. and created the viral hit, Wolverine The Musical for Hugh Jackman Cox left his producers post (of The Matt Edmondson Show) at BBC Radio 1 in 2015.
| Show | Venue(s) |
|---|---|
| The Illusionists | London West End (Shaftesbury Theatre), Sydney Opera House, The Kennedy Centre, QPAC Brisbane, Regent Theatre Melbourne, Canberra Theatre, 3x US Tour, Cancun, Reno Residency, Cape Town, Johannesburg. |
| The Illusionists – Magic of the Holidays | Broadway (Neil Simon Theatre), Princess of Wales Theatre (Toronto), Cadillac Palace (Chicago), Emerson Colonial (Boston), 2x US Tour. |
| Impossible | London West End (Noël Coward Theatre x2), UK Tour, Dubai Opera, Singapore, Manila, Beirut |
| Wonderville | London West End (Palace Theatre) |
| Presto! | Destin, Florida. |
| Fatal Distraction | Edinburgh Fringe (Pleasance), 2x UK Tour, Underbelly London, Southbank Centre London, New Zealand Tour |
| Mind Over Patter | Edinburgh Fringe (Pleasance), UK Tour, Underbelly London, Southbank Centre London, New Zealand Tour |
| Control Freak | Edinburgh Fringe (Pleasance), UK Tour |
| Everything Happens for a Reason? | Edinburgh Fringe (Gilded Balloon) |
| He Can't Read Minds? | Edinburgh Fringe (C Venues) |
References
edit- ^ House, Jaclyn (18 October 2018). "Good Day NWA: The Illusionists Live from Broadway". NWAHOMEPAGE. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "The Illusionists". sydneyoperahouse.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "CBBC – Chris Cox's Mind Boggling Magic". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ Theatre Record – Page 1547 2008 "Any show worth its salt, however, will offer some kind of choice. Mentalist acts such as Chris Cox and Philip Escoffey try to restrict their audience recruitment to random processes and/or volunteers, ..."
- ^ Wright, Steve, Venue Magazine, December 2011
- ^ The Independent, "How We Met: Chris Cox & Tim Minchin", May 2012
- ^ Deadline Hollywood, "Syfy Development Slate", April 2012
- ^ "Heston Blumenthal on the new experience at". 27 January 2016.
- ^ "Impossible Official Website". impossiblelive.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ Cook, W: The Guardian, The Guide magazine, 1 December 2007
- ^ Arthur, Tim, "Chris Cox Everything Happens For A Reason Preview" Archived 29 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Time Out, November 2007