Keith Barry has said even "hardcore sceptics" will be hit hard by an emotional routine in his new stage show Reconnected, which is also included in an episode of his new RTÉ TV series which kicks off this Saturday night.
After two long pandemic years, the magician and mentalist is finally taking to the road again with his Reconnected tour, which kicks off in Galway at the end of April, as well as showcasing his skills in The Keith Barry Experience, a new four-episode mini-series airing on RTÉ One.
Barry welcomes the upcoming busy period.
"I didn't think it would take nearly this long to get back on the stage, it's been well over two years since I set foot on stage which is mad," he told RTÉ Entertainment.
"Being on stage is the favourite part of what I do by a long shot, it's in my DNA. It's just exciting to hit the road again and see people entering a world where everything and anything can happen.
"I've got crazy routines where people are going to reconnect emotionally, physically, spiritually. I even teach half of the audience how to hack into the other half of the audience's minds. That's going to lead to a crazy result."
And after such a long, unplanned break from the stage, Barry said he's sure to be "a bag of nerves" on opening night.
"I don't overthink going back on tour, I am excited about going back on tour, but definitely there'll be an element of nervousness because it's a brand new tour so all the material is brand new, it hasn't been road-tested," he said.
"I don't know how it's going to play or at least a large portion of it. There'll be nervousness about how the audience is going to be after the whole pandemic, so yeah there'll be an element of nerves there.
"But I'm very good at spinning those nerves into positive energy before I hit the stage. Once I hit the stage that will all go away and I'll just relax into doing what I do."
Tour time is nearly here! Opening night in Galway is sold out! Only a handful tickets left for @3olympiatheatre . Who's coming to play ? pic.twitter.com/LPfJOPxAIL
— Keith Barry (@KeithpBarry) March 30, 2022
During the pandemic, Barry kept his mentalist skills sharp by doing virtual brain hacking shows. It proved to be a steep learning curve for the entertainer.
"I had to learn a new skill set because you are limited, for example, you can't touch people to interact with them," he said.
"You get a better sense of people when you're in a room with them, even emotionally. It was a different thing to learn.
"It kept me on my toes and kept me sharp with interacting with people and getting inside their heads."
The practice is sure to come in a handy for his new routines which he said are designed to "reconnect people". He singled out one act which particularly hits home.
"At the end of the show I'm going to reconnect two people in the audience in such a way that there won't be a dry eye in the house," he shared.
"Even the hardcore sceptics are going to be really hit hard by this, but in a very nice way. People are going to be so overwhelmed with happiness everyone is going to start balling crying on stage and off stage."
This routine will also be included in episode two of The Keith Barry Experience, in which Barry reconnected two people who hadn't seen each other in almost three years. He described it as a "magical" and "amazing" moment to behold.
Many well-known Irish faces will be taking part in the show, including Muireann O'Connell, Emer O'Neill and Brian Dowling, as well as Una Healy who takes part in a mystifying brain hack.
Barry explained: "Una thinks about a question about her future that nobody could possibly know the answer to and she actually subconsciously answers the question herself.
"First of all that surprised her, and secondarily I figured out through my brain hacking skills what that question and answer was, and I whispered that answer to her.
"That's an interesting mystery for everybody."
He added: "I've got a whole sequence in one show based around getting somebody over their crippling fear of snakes to the extent that by the end of the show they're fast asleep in a casket with 14 snakes wriggling all around them.
"In another episode a celebrity is put into instant hypnosis and put on a bed of nails and hoisted up onto the ceiling of RTÉ, that's very dramatic."
The Keith Barry Experience starts on 2 April at 9.45pm on RTÉ 1.
