Victorian magician Dom Chambers will receive a 12-month mentorship and $2000 towards performing in the 2019 Adelaide Fringe after being announced as the inaugural recipient of the Matt Tarrant Young Performer Grant.

The grant was conceived by award-winning South Australian magician Matt Tarrant and is supported by the Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund, which began in 2014 and has since provided $100,000 in funding to dozens of artists.

Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall said the grant was inspired by Tarrant’s desire to help emerging artists reach their potential and reflected Adelaide Fringe’s commitment to fostering new Australian talent.

“By providing this mentorship and sharing his skills and knowledge, Matt is providing an amazing opportunity for artists like Dom to reach exciting new heights with their work,” Ms Croall said.

Tarrant, who will mentor Chambers in the lead-up to his 2019 Adelaide Fringe performance, said he was impressed by the variety of ideas and talent represented across the grant’s 18 applications.

“It was great to see passionate artists who are committed to growing and developing their craft,” Tarrant said.

“Dom in particular stood out with his creativity, innovation and willingness to push the boundaries of his show.

“For artists, telling a story on stage is easy, but it’s much harder to transfer those stories into marketing support. I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learnt from my 10 years in the entertainment industry.”

Tarrant was so inspired that he has extended the mentorship program to include support for an additional three applicants – Adelaide-born theatrical burlesque performer Brodie Turner (VIC), queer sketch comedian Colwyn Buckland (VIC) and Tasma Jefferies (SA) from Vertical Insanity Circus.

Each will receive an initial marketing and branding planning session and follow-up consultation with Tarrant later in the year.

Chambers said he was grateful to Tarrant and Adelaide Fringe for believing in his show RanDom, which challenges the traditional expectations of magic and illusion.

“As an artist and comedian with a strong passion for magic, illusion and the unusual, I have, for a long while, been frustrated by the lack of experimentation and ambition within the magic industry,” Chambers said.

“I find it quite perplexing and even heartbreaking that the art of magic is still not officially recognised as a true art form.

“I look forward to working with Matt to making my production even bigger and better in 2019.”

The 2019 Adelaide Fringe will be held from February 15 to March 17.