Culture
Vincent Vignaud, illusionist – Living the life he always wanted
The night of the Première of Swiss Christmas after the show, I sat down with Vincent Vignaud for a talk about his life and career.
I always have been fascinated with magic so it was a real pleasure to meet with him. Vincent put me right at ease and during our conversation I learnt so much about him and the magic world.
Vincent Vignaud after the Première of Swiss Christmas
Smiling he said that he was happy to be able to relax and enjoy the evening after 10 days of rehearsals. When he signed his contract he didn’t know he would have such an important role in the story in addition to his acts. But he explained he has a good relationship with the director and it has worked out well. Vincent plays a big part in the story with Isabel Florido.
Vincent Vignaud comes from Mulhouse in Alsace so he didn’t have to go very far to come to Swiss Christmas. He knows the circus world quite well as his father opened a circus school when he was a child. He started juggling as a teenager.
At the age of 13 he met a 65 years old magician and he fell in love with magic. Years later, his passion didn’t go away. You can see he loves his profession. What is your professional dream, Vincent? “I am lucky to do what I do, if I can have more than this – great, otherwise I am happy like it is.”
He feels strange to be back a few blocks away from the place he saw the magician David Copperfield five, six years ago at the Hallenstadion in Zurich. Unfortunately as there were about 10,000 people in the stadium, he didn’t have the chance to talk to him.
I asked Vincent the difference between being a magician and an illusionist. He explained that a magician is someone who makes some tricks alone with no helpers like with card games. An illusionist has dancers and works with machines and saws for example.
Vincent Vignaud and one of his helpers during an illusion at Swiss Christmas
The ladies who work with him can’t just be beautiful, they have to feel comfortable with the illusions and be good dancers too. At Swiss Christmas Vincent came with two ladies who have about 8 years experience. But they are not the only people on the stage with whom he needs to have full trust when he starts an illusion act. The other important figures of a show are the technicians. Everyone behind the scene has to be at his best or it could turn into a catastrophe, admits Vincent. If someone forgets a ladder on the stage for an act, then he has to notice it before something happens. Vincent needs to have eyes out for everything!
He continues, tapping the table with his hand twice “Knock on wood, I have never had an accident”. He has numerous illusions which are quite dangerous, like the first act he did at Swiss Christmas. One of his assistants laid down on a table and she was slowly lifted up many meters high. This was a difficult one, he said.
Vincent Vignaud did not perform any scary illusions with saws or drills during the show because as he explained it would not be appropriate for this type of spectacle. However he will for his next show in Asia. “Other there, there are really fond of that type of illusions”, he revealed.
He has now fourteen illusions to choose from. Buying the necessary equipment for his illusions was a big investment. He said each costs between 5,000 to 70,000 euros. So for this reason he always needs to work. He can’t stay without a job for six months. Illusions prices and provenance are something which illusionists don’t like to discuss between each other. It is like a secret. In order to go on tour alone with his illusions he needs to be able to perform about twelve illusions.
For Vincent a successful illusion is nice, efficient, getting to the point and over before the spectator starts getting bored.
Mid of February 2012 Vincent will leave Europe for Asia for his first show alone with 14 dancers. He will have a show of 45 minutes until the end of August. He is very happy about it.
wiss Christmas Party - Fabienne Louves, Isabelle Florido and Vincent Vignaud with Philippa Ashley and Lucie Sarafinova
That is not the first time he will be away from France. When he was in his early twenties he left home for Kiev to be trained in a circus school there. He explained how hard it was and why: “it was a cultural shock. I had to dance and I am not a dancer. You always had to be present, work on choreography and to train four times a day. When I went back home my mother could not recognize me. I could not even stand up anymore.”
Would you not be where you are today if you had not this school, I asked? Vincent said he has the feeling that no because after that everything followed on nicely.
Luckily not all the schools are as harsh as in the Ukraine. Vincent Vignaud said his father still has his circus school. There are very popular in France, with about one hundred in the country. You can start when you are 3 years old and in Mulhouse there are about 1250 kids a week which train at circus schools. Now do they all want to be magicians, acrobats, clowns or? No, no, continued Vincent. Parents signed up their kids as if they would sign them up for a sport like football. It is in the trend!
I learnt that it is quite difficult to learn magic tricks. There are no schools for that and that is not something you learn in a circus school. “There is Internet”, said Vincent “but imagine learning magic with internet!”
During his career he worked for various places in and outside of France such as Pinder and Bouglione circuses, casino d’Estoril, Europa Park and the Musical Paradis des Sources in Soultzmatt.
Going outside of the country is not a problem but the separation is the most difficult. “Meeting people and always having to leave them behind, that’s hard”, he confessed while repeating the word hard twice. He will be leaving Zurich in 1 month 1/2 and later after six months in Asia he will leave again for an unknown destination. He doesn’t hide that after half a year in Asia, it would be nice if he could stay in Europe. He had propositions but nothing has been decided yet.
Group of artists at the Swiss Christmas show in Zurich, Première
Vincent got this job at Swiss Christmas after they saw him perform at his last show in France. He had sent them a link to his site and video. The producers came to look for him there. Then the next few meetings were more about technical stuff and to decide on which illusions would be appropriate for the Christmas show.
I was curious to see if Vincent had made to the Cirque Soleil, the Grand Cabaret du Monde and to any shows in Las Vegas. Cirque du Soleil does not have any magic acts when they tour. However, while he never worked for them, it is the spectacle which has left the strongest impressions on him. It was the place he had his best memories. Of course there are others he said. He has never been to the famous French show in Paris because when Patrick Sebastien do his tapings a couple days a week, Vincent works! Regarding Las Vegas he explained that it hard to get a contract as there as already so many shows, about 14! Now the big and more innovative shows to get into would be in Dubai and other similar places.
He explained that in Europe the producers and directors do everything they can so the shows run well. It is amazing how much they do so the spectators have a great show. It is much better than in the USA.
Now, Vincent could you tell me which of your illusions do you like the most? Without hesitation, he replied “the last one I bought, the one with a turbine where I disappear and reappear in the public”.
Wow! that sounds really scary! I bet I will not be able to figure out how he does it. But do I really want to know? The beauty about illusions, I think, is not knowing and wondering…
I found the videos on You tube – I have not seen these illusions being performed.
