The Illusionists

The Illusionists is a production of The Works Entertainment, the same company that brought us Le Noir - The Dark Side of Cirque, The Illusionists 1903, and Circus 1903 - The Golden Age of Circus, and in fact it features several of The Illusionists 1903’s performers.

After introducing us to all eight illusionists through a simple but effective feat of magic backed by irresistibly rousing music, the performance commenced with the first of many delightful campy comedy-magic acts by the production’s M.C., Jeff Hobson (“The Trickster”), whose apparent mistakes conceal amusing skills in close-up performance.  A couple of daredevil acts, one less tasteful than the other, intersperse an increasingly riveting series of illusions.  There are a couple of illusions of the swords-skewering-the-assistant mode, but even these have class.  The acts by world-famous magical couple Mark Kalin and Jinger Leigh, including even Kalin’s straightforward but utterly inexplicable materialisations of Jinger, once in the audience after dematerialisation from a box, and once within a previously empty cabinet, displayed superb showmanship.

And the surprises kept mounting, with the world-famous “Manipulator”, An Halim, producing literally hundreds of playing cards in mid air; bewildering mindreading feats by Chris Cox (“The Mentalist”), including details that flabbergasted their subjects, and even accurate prediction of an audience member’s clothing choices; a ballet with a clearly unsupported but floating prop; and the best human-cut-in-half illusion I’ve ever seen, at the hands of Kevin James, “The Inventor”.  In another act, The Inventor showed, up close, an enthralling ability to make several paper creations dance in the air before he turned one into a real flower before our eyes.

This was a magical evening that even the magic-jaded enjoyed, and it was made all the more thrilling by an out-of-this-world soundtrack that Evan Jolly composed and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra recorded.  The show included none of the bow-and-arrow daredevilling that its promotional video suggested, but it didn’t matter; the show was wondrous enough, and lasted for longer than advertised, and everybody emerged wreathed in smiles and still puzzled.  I suggest you catch this show wherever you can; you may never again get the chance to see such impressive magical acts.

John P. Harvey

David Spicer, who attended the opening at the Sydney Opera House, adds his pespective.

The latest in the Illusionist series is slick and spell binding. The MC Jeff Hobson swaggers around the audience dropping comic bombs with aplomb. There is danger in his gags, as he spars with the audience, but like a skilled tightrope walker he stays on balance to elicits laughs with gay abandon.

The usual clichés of magic shows have been turned on their head. Instead of sawing someone in half after they enter a box, in this show, slices of  human mannequins are pulled together first, then seemlessly become whole.

The Mentalist - aka Chris Cox - exuded dorky charisma. His mind reading skills appeared so spookily good that you are almost tempted to come back a second time to double check its authenticity.

Sometimes these shows elicit an act that is so dangerous that it is uncomfortable to watch. The Daredevil  - aka Jonathan Goodwin - skirted close to that edge, setting himself on fire in a straightjacket upside down - with one added juicy danger which I won't reveal.

Goodness knows how they get permission to use flames inside the Opera House.  Later The Inventor - aka Kevin James - dowses the audience with a more refreshing substance.

Finally the Manipulator- aka An Halim - ends the production with a gorgeously realised series of card tricks. No matter how hard you watch you can't detect his sleight of hand.

Even if you have seen many magic shows before this latest production will delight all ages.

Photographer: John P. Harvey