Captain Frodo, contortionist, La Soirée
Find what you love, then do it ...
While it’s no easy task to wind our memories back so far, we can almost guarantee that at the age of four we would have been heavily focused on making potato-print paintings and trying to nail the art of tying shoelaces. But Norwegian-born contortionist Captain Frodo was up to other exploits. As the son of a famous magician, the little tacker was sweeping across theatre stages and learning the behind-the-scenes secrets of live-art performance. Following in the footsteps of his talented father, Captain Frodo has now made his own mark on the stage – bending, manipulating and contorting his body into tiny spaces and jaw-dropping shapes. The wunderkind is set to hit the QPAC stage alongside aerial gymnasts, jugglers and trapeze artists in award-winning theatrical phenomenon La Soirée when it returns to Brisbane for a tenth-anniversary season this May. The Weekend Edition caught up with Captain Frodo this week to talk magic and manipulation.
You’ve been gracing stages around the world since you were four years old. What can you tell us about life as the son of a famous magician?
It was my dad who ordered me my first straightjacket and after it arrived I would get my mother to put it on me upstairs and would then go and practise it in the garage where I could throw myself around. One day while I was in there, the garage door opened and my dad came in with our neighbour who wanted to borrow the hedge trimmer. The neighbour’s eyes went wide open and dad simply said, “We put him in that when he acts up” and continued to get the trimmer. I still remember that look of disbelief on our neighbour as the door shut. He never looked at me the same again.
What’s the best advice your magician dad ever gave you?
Just do it. Say yes, then work out how to do it.
What was your childhood dream – what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was too busy learning lock picking, one-handed rifle shuffles and learning how to play Bach on the singing saw to worry about growing up!
How did you get into this line of work – was it inspired by your dad or did you simply display a natural ability?
“You’re a natural” was, and still is, a frequent compliment. I wanted to be in the show from before I knew what it entailed and I guess getting into performing was a natural desire for a boy whose dad could make chocolate appear inside cones of rolled-up newspaper.
Can you remember the first body manipulation move you ever performed?
I remember trying to get out of PE in school by claiming that I had dislocated my shoulder … It didn’t work. My double jointedness has always been part of my body’s natural ability.
Any contortion fails over the years you need to admit to?
I got stuck inside an old-fashioned wooden tennis racket and couldn’t get back out! Once a racket pops past my dislocated shoulder, if it’s too small to pass over my (manly) chest, then I can’t get it off myself. I was stuck in there until I could find a saw in my fathers garage …
Your contortionist skills put our yoga moves to shame. What’s your best trick?
Placing both my legs behind my head and balancing atop a three-metre-high stack of barrels and buckets – the last one being a can of beans …
No doubt it’s taken plenty of patience and persistence to get to where you are today – what words of wisdom can you share for others dealing with challenges in their life?
Find what you love, then do it. Don’t worry about what people around you think, unless they’ve paid to see you. The world is a very big place and just because you’re related to someone, or they go to your school, doesn’t make them experts in what’s best for you.
We can’t wait to see you in La Soirée at QPAC this May – what can audiences expect from the show?
La Soirée is such a tightly packed punch of expertly crafted entertainment that you can, without a doubt, expect to laugh hysterically and get a little turned on and leaving feeling surprisingly moved.
You’ll be joined by a wonderful troupe of talents – besides yourself, who’s your favourite act in the show?
I am personally a fan of the rambunctious work of Mr Nate Cooper. His hysterical slapstick mayhem leaves the audiences equally frightened and aching with laughter. He also gives me great advice on my own work.
What’s the big dream – do you have a venue you want to perform in, a move you want to master or a particular audience member you want to dazzle?
The dream is to become a billionaire and to never have to worry again about whether I can afford party hats for all my friends. In my mind, there is no more direct route to riches than squeezing yourself through two tennis rackets.
What’s been your life or career highlight?
Becoming a father to a little girl. My life and my living are so closely intertwined, I see managing a family in a constantly touring lifestyle as a great achievement.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in your career, or even life in general, so far?
When people give career advice in a little fishing town on the west coast of Norway, they have no idea what you are uniquely suited to. If there’s a little whisper in your heart that tells you to do something, listen …