At the top of the touring production of Champions of Magic, the audience is treated to an explanation of how magic works. The human brain consists of two halves. The left hemisphere regulates logic and reason, the right, art, creativity, and more esoteric functions. The magician’s job is to utilize the four major concepts of magic, (sleight of hand, disappearance, reappearance, and misdirection) to combine the two halves and trick them into the desired effect for any given magic trick. An accomplished trio of magic acts (Liberty Larsen, Fernando Velasco, and duo Young & Strange) then demonstrate for a captive audience these principles.
The two act performance is structured to give the audience a slightly elementary education in basic illusion magic before putting it all into effect. In the first act, all the Illusionists perform some audience participation acts. [Sit your kids down in the front half of the orchestra if they might be available to be makeshift assistants. A youngster named Chad was ecstatic to be the subject of a levitation act.] All the acts are mixed with light comedy, especially when they all terminate in a mock talk show that escalates out of the host’s control.
All this sets the stage for the second act when things get exciting. After a taste of the style and personality, each act shows off their prowess. Larsen is a legacy act, fourth generation magician. Her great-grandparents toured as The Larsens & Sons and created Genii, the Conjuror’s Magazine, a respected magicians’ publication which is still in circulation today. Her grandparents founded the prestigious Magic Castle, a performance venue, restaurant, and home of The Academy of Magical Arts, an exclusive club for magicians and enthusiasts in Hollywood. Larsen’s act is a sentimental tribute to her grandparents’ magical home where she devoured books on magic and learned from the professionals. She recreates some of the vintage acts they perfected, and takes a cue from her grandmother’s book on how to perform magic, transforming into a vivid red sequin dress, as in “always look your best–and you can never have too much sparkle.” What her segment loses in flash and dazzle she makes up for in love and sentimentality, almost as if she conjured up her grandparents in the process.
Velasco also has his roots in Larsens’ grandparents’ Magic Castle, where his father worked in the restaurant when he was 11. Some of the era’s leading Illusionists took the youngster under their wings and taught him the trade. Today he is one of the world’s most prestigious escapologists and executes a few acts to salute the grandmaster of them all, Harry Houdini. In the first act, he performs an escape from a pair of Houdini’s handcuffs (the bigger trick is how he even gets into them). In the flashier second act he varies the elements on Houdini’s fatal Water Torture Cell. Instead of freeing himself from a straightjacket and chains in a water escape and ascending to freedom, Velasco ups the ante and has to free himself from the apparatus while suspended to drop from a device that will explode into flames if he doesn’t get out in time.
Young & Strange (ironically their actual names and a perfect desctription of their act), the de facto hosts of the evening are a British duo who blend their Illusions with a healthy dose of comedy. Best friends since the age of 8, they bonded for life over their mutual love of all things Magic. As they recall their fascination when they first saw the grandfathers of Vegas Illusion, Seigfriend & Roy, they lament that they never found that kind of success. So the proceed to show the audience what their Vegas show would have look like, and let it suffice to say that we all missed out on what they could have been if they would have been. After donning flawless S&R-esque 80s sequin jumpsuits, they run though a brilliant parody of their childhood idols’ act, equal parts satire, sly cheeky humor, and spectacular special effects and pyrotechnics–and the most fast-paced, dizzyingly stunning Illusions of the evening. Special note goes to assistants Michelle Mazzarella and Trent Smith who have the impossible job of standing in for a pair of exotic Bengal Tigers.
The Champions of Magic is an immaculately executed blend of Magic, comedy, and audience participation that is perfect for the whole family. Student discounts are available (see the Kennedy Center link for details and specifics) and try to get your young aspiring magicians down front in case they can be chosen for some fun antics. The show plays through December 1, but don’t forget the principles of Magic above. Get your tickets before these talented and engaging Illusionists disappear, because they may not reappear for a season or two. Now you see them, now you don’t…..
Photos courtesy of Champions of Magic
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours with one intermission.
Champions of Magic currently plays through December 1, 2924, in the Eisenhower Theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington DC 20566. For tickets, call the box office at 202.467.4600 or purchase online