‘El Diablo’ Returns to Kingston Fringe: “More Diabolical Than Ever”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the moment my call with Ewerton Martins begins, we both find ourselves laughing.
Originally from Brazil, Martins is the creator and performer of El Diablo of the Cards. He is nothing but joyful as he greets me via video call from Manitoba, where he has just completed a sold-out run at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. A graduate of École Philippe Gaulier in France, where he trained in clowning and acting, Martins is never without a trick up his sleeve; as we begin our conversation, he weaves elaborate close-up magic tricks into our interaction, and cards fly out of his mouth before I ask my first question.
His show, El Diablo of the Cards, returns to this year’s Kingston Fringe Festival, including this and far more. A mixture of a clown routine, magic show, and Martins’ own unique comic style, the performance promises 60 minutes of family-friendly fun that is sure to impress and astonish audiences of all ages.
This year is Martins’ first Kingston Fringe since 2019. Although he returned to the city in 2024 as part of the Kick & Push Festival, Fringe holds a special place for him; the 2017 festival was his second Fringe performance and gave him the opportunity to develop his craft in the early stages of his career. We discuss his various performances from the last nine years in Kingston, as well as Martins’ passionate love of the city. “I always say I’m collecting histories with the show, and there is a history that I have in Kingston,” he tells me. “To this day, I say that I was born as an artist in Kingston!”
We laugh, and he adds, “I’m a bit Canadian in that respect.”
“Canada is the only country that [I come back to] every year. I have a connection here.” Along with his current travels across Canada for various Fringe festivals, Martins has performed in 12 countries across his career, with a goal to ultimately reach 52 nations—the same number as the amount of cards in a standard deck, the only prop he uses during El Diablo of the Cards. “There’s a question of, how is it possible to travel with a show [across] different cultures? Because I’m playing with what we have in common. I play with our shared humanity: the capacity of love, the capacity of wonder. Every human being has that.”
Although Martins follows a similar structure with each performance, regardless of country or venue, the improvisatory nature of El Diablo of the Cards means no show is the same: “Even I don’t know what will happen sometimes.” The comic relies heavily on audience participation and interaction throughout, cracking jokes as his clown persona and playing tricks on audiences with his undeniable talent for sleight of hand. That said, he knows a few things are true of each audience, “they’re going to laugh… and lose a bit of their sanity, also,” he adds with a chuckle.
Martins’ positive spirit never dips throughout our conversation, and that energy is palpable even through the screen. He is a creative who is beyond passionate about the work he does, the stories he tells, and the people who are reunited with a childlike sense of wonder after seeing a magic trick they cannot find a way to explain.
“Everyone was born a [kid]. The challenge is… they have to grow up. For some people, in the middle of the way, we lose a bit of the light in [our] eyes. I say this show is like a rescue of this light. The rescue of our shadow. In the middle of the show, [the audience] starts to behave like they are eight years old again.”
This last comment is one that I feel, too, without even seeing the show: in the short time we spoke, his energy truly brings out a sense of childhood wonder. Be it the cards, or just the way Martins views the world and the impact of comedy, there is something special about the way he is able to transform the space around him into something brighter than it was before.
More importantly, he is always ready to bring El Diablo of the Cards anywhere, new or returning. When I ask if there is anything audiences should know about his return to Kingston, he insists they know one thing:
“I’ve come back more diabolical than ever.”
Ewerton Martins (creator and performer) is an internationally acclaimed Brazilian performer and a graduate of the prestigious clowning and acting school École Philippe Gaulier (France). He has toured ‘El Diablo of the Cards’ to sold out houses in Theatre Festivals in Europe, Canada, Asia, and Latin America. Ewerton is probably the Brazilian clown most awarded at Fringe Festivals around the world… and he uses only a deck of cards in his show!
‘El Diablo of the Cards’ is presented by the Kingston Fringe Festival, and will be playing at the Tett Centre until August 16th, 2026. Tickets and more information can be found here.
