An illusionist, ventriloquist, shadow puppeteer, mime artist and comedian walk into a pub one day, the barman turns around and says 'G'day Raymond, what'll it be?”

Australian performer Raymond ‘The Unusualist' Crowe is all those things and much more, but you can find out for yourself when he performs at Baycourt Community and Arts Centre next month.

Australian entertainer Raymond ‘The Unusualist' Crowe will be performing at the Baycourt Community and Arts Centre on February 12. Photo: Supplied.

His upcoming 13-show tour of New Zealand starts in Tauranga on February 12 and Raymond says he's excited to be crossing the ditch to entertain us Kiwis.

'It'll be my first time in Tauranga so I'm looking forward to it,” says Raymond. 'I've been looking it up on the internet and any place that's called the Bay of Plenty, well you've just got to go there.”

For more than 30 years Raymond has wowed and charmed audiences all over the world and his resume of performances is a spectacle within itself.

He's made Queen Elizabeth chuckle during a Royal Variety Performance, appeared on ‘The Late Show' with David Letterman, and took part in The Illusionists 2.0 50-show world tour in 2014.

'Every now and then when I think I'm starting to get good, people will remind me that I should be by now,” jokes Raymond. 'So I have this theory that if you start thinking you're good, you'll get bad.”

'My act is kind of like a modern Vaudeville variety show, there are so many elements to it that if you don't dig something, then something else will come along in a couple of minutes.”

Raymond believes the secret behind his show's popularity with audiences lies in its simplicity.

Rather than going bigger and better like a lot of illusionists tend to do, Raymond says he prefers to go simpler and 'find things you may have played with as a kid”.

'It's kind of weird, it's an adult show but children love it too. There's nothing in there that's going to make adults put their hands over their kids' ears, that's just nature of my work.

'I remember after one show, this old guy who was 96 said to me he was there with four generations of his family. None of them are getting their money back though,” he quips.

Australian performer Raymond ‘The Unusualist' Crowe is coming to Tauranga on February 12 and Sunlive has a prize package of ticcket to giveaway. Photo: Supplied.

Audience interaction also features heavily in Raymond's performances, so if you're heading along to Baycourt on February 12 you may find yourself in his show.

As a performer Raymond enjoys interacting with audiences as it keeps him on his toes and is usually fun – usually.

He recalls one performance 20 years ago where he got a member of the audience on stage to help out with a magic trick involving placing his head in a box and then impaling it with swords.

'Somebody told me you should peek into the audience and see who you are going to use,” he recalls. 'The only time I did was 20 years ago and I got the worst guy I've ever had up on stage.

'He was off his nut and as I'm talking he's picking up the swords and jabbing me with them and that's something you don't forget because they were real swords, it was horrific.”

So how did Raymond come by the name ‘The Unusualist'?

'I would ask people to describe what I do, and they'd say ‘Well, it's unusual'. So I coined the phrase ‘The Unusualist'.”

'This has allowed me to experiment with other things other than being a magician or a puppeteer or ventriloquist, I've been fortunate to be able to keep experimenting because I wasn't pigeonholed.”

Raymond Crowe – The Unusualist performs at the Baycourt Community and Arts Centre in Tauranga on Thursday, February 12.

Tickets cost $49 for adults, $29 for children, and can be purchased from Ticketek.

SunLive has a prize pack valued at $170 to give away to one lucky reader, which includes one family pass (2 x Adult, 2 x Child) to Raymond's Tauranga show plus Raymond's book ‘A Wonderful World Of Hand Shadows'.

To enter, head to Sunlive's competitions section by clicking here and tell us what Raymond believes is the secret behind his show's popularity?

Entries must be received before Monday, February 9.