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Thursday, March 28, 2024

20 questions with Wes Barker

Meet the Vancouver-based comedy magician

Meet Wes Barker

Wes Barker is one of Canada’s biggest touring comedy magicians, selling out theatres across the country and around the world. He has appeared on America’s Got Talent, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, MTV’s Greatest Party Stories Ever, and Syfy’s Wizard Wars.

You can follow Wes on Youtube, Twitter or visit him online at https://stuntmagician.com.

20 Questions with Wes Barker

Your first job.

Working at the sawmill my dad works at. I was on the cleanup crew, and I was super lazy about it. I would crawl into the machines that needed cleaning and just sleep.

The job you always wanted as a child.

Oh man, this is about to be embarrassing. When I was 10 yrs old, I wanted to be in the NBA … this dream did not actually die until I was 19. I normally lie about that, but at 19 I was walking around as a 5’9″ white Canadian still believing I will make the NBA one day.

Your pet peeve.

My brother eating cereal. Can’t tell you exactly why, but all growing up I would watch him and it would make me so mad. Something about the way he ate it drove me insane!

Your hero.

Jim Carrey and Robin Williams were all I cared about as a kid.

Your biggest indulgence.

Beer probably … yep, it’s for sure beer.

One thing no one knows about you.

I have a huge nerdy interest in space and physics. Huge.

Three things you would want with you on a deserted island.

  1. A kite: no joke I can fly a stunt kite for hours on end.
  2. A surfboard: it’s my favourite thing to be bad at.
  3. A guitar: none of these are practical but I’d rather enjoy myself.

The one word your best friend would use to describe you.

LoudAndCrazyButInTheFunWay

If you were not a magician, what would you be doing?

I’d probably be a realtor or something. I would have found anything that gave me a flexible schedule.

Hero or villain?

Hero. I love feeling love. If you make your living trying to get laughs, you want that hero life.

Your life’s motto/mantra.

You don’t have the space in your brain. So quit filling it with stuff you hate, like work, people, Facebook posts, etc

The song that gets the most play on your iTunes playlist.

Frank Sinatra’s “I Won’t Dance”.

Your favourite magic trick, and why.

It’s called “Paper Balls Over The Head” I first saw it done by this guy called Slydini. It’s so simple but so funny and amazing. The entire audience can see how the trick works but the one person on stage has no clue. To me that is so damn funny.

If you were a super hero which super hero would you be, and why?

Thor. I just want to drink that much beer and still have his body.

What will it say on your grave marker?

I probably don’t know the day I died, but I can tell you that I made the most of it. Go live your life. I lived the hell out of mine.

Who would you most like to have dinner with?

Ryan Reynolds. I have man crush that is only mostly non-sexual.

Your idea of happiness.

Traveling. Maybe that’s a common answer but seriously, there are so many place to go and things to do. Whenever I start feeling “unhappy” I can honestly stop and go, “oh yeah I need to go live some life and get out for a bit”. I think it would make anyone happy.

The one thing in your life that makes you most proud.

The fact that I ignored all common sense and followed my dreams.

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your 20-year old self?

Take even crazier risks … because the fact that I’m alive to tell myself this means I must have lived through it … ah, crazy time travel paradox, my head hurts.

To be or not to be?

Always to be! To be: interested, open, curious, optimistic, and unafraid. But let’s have some beers and go through the list again. Then we’ll see where it really goes!

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