The Illusionists: An Amazing Show Worthy of Praise

He was scruffy and scary, covered in tattoos with his head shaved on the sides but with long wild hair on the top. Earrings, odd makeup, chains and leather clothing rounded out the ensemble. He less called for a volunteer from the audience than he did demand one. He called himself The Anti-Conjuror.

Another wore a turn-of-the-century white linen suit and collar with geeky round glasses and sported a blond crew cut. He boasted of inventing unique feats of illusion and so called himself The Inventor.

A third was a well-dressed Korean man in his 20s who had an exotic “smarter than you” look on his wrinkleless face and fascinated the audience without speaking a word as he produced hundreds of ordinary playing cards from thin air and made them do whatever he wished. He was The Manpulator.

Then, there was the painfully thin young Italian who scoffed at locks and handcuffs, especially while locked upside down under water performing the Houdini-like water chamber escape. He called himself The Escapologist.

A long-haired head-banger repeatedly jeopardized the life of his assistant by shooting arrows at various targets she held aloft. Sometimes he faced the opposite direction and used a mirror to see his target. He was billed as The Weapon Master.

An ordinary looking young British man shocked the audience by being at one place one second and then disappearing and reappearing across the theater the next. His moniker was The Deceptionist.

Rounding out the troupe was a glitter-wearing fast-talking gay joker who stole watches, performed parlor tricks and served as the comedic host of the overall event. He was called The Trickster.

Together, the seven performers are traveling America for a show called “The Illustionists” that began with a successful run on Broadway. We saw the show in Morgantown just before they moved on to Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall for a four-show stand April 22 and 23.

Never having seen an illusionist show in person, I was captivated. On television, there’s always that grain of doubt and skepticism nurtured by the knowledge that editing and special effects just might play a part in the show. In person, those factors are absent and you can truly appreciate the sophistication that each performance requires to produce the desired befuddlement of the audience.

Several of the performers developed true humor-infused characters while others never uttered a word. The Anti-Conjuror (Dan Sperry) , did both. He did three separate sets throughout the evening. During the first two, he wordlessly amazed the audience with illusions involving birds and candy; yes, a piece of candy. Later, playing off his intimidating look, he played the dark impatient con man, shouting threatening yet funny instructions at his volunteer victim from the audience. He also did some gross-out tricks that involved some blood-letting.

The Escapologist (Andrew Basso) pelted the audience with effective braggadocio and dramatic showmanship in a thick Italian accent before attempting his Houdini-like escape from underwater bondage as a digital clock ticked off the time.

The Weapon Master (Ben Blaque) looked like he could have been in a heavy-metal band. He used a crossbow with a scope to hit a variety of odd sized objects from the grasp of a traditional female assistant. He spoke no words and let his weapon do the talking, culminating in a fairly intricate and impressive endeavor involving an apple like a high tech William Tell.

The Manipulator (Yu Ho-Jin), standing straight and elegant, never spoke a word as he worked with what seemed to be a never-ending supply of playing cards in a slight of hand display the audience never saw coming. He made quite a mess on stage that someone had to sweep up after the curtain closed.

The Deceptionist (James More) was another silent performer who did some remarkable “now you see him…now you don’t” illusions that had folks scratching their heads in amazement.

The Inventor (Kevin James), to me, was perhaps the least entertaining. He was obviously the senior member of the group and his illusions centered mostly around making a folded napkin levitate and dance around as if by…well…magic. He also did a mad scientist opening bit that seemed to be more flash than substance.

The Trickster (Jeff Hobson) was the ringmaster of all the mayhem. He was one-part comedian and one-part magician, pulling hapless volunteers from the audience for quip-laden bits that always ended up with a well-executed illusion. He got serious for his introduction of the Escapologist but kept the rest of the evening light and humorous.

The show was complimented by an overhead big screen that gave the audience a closer look at the goings on and an on-stage camera operator kept the action well framed.

Four of the seven performers in the traveling show were featured in the Broadway version which opened in November 2015 and closed in January, 2016. The original cast included Adam Trent as the Futurist, who has attained a great deal of exposure as a solo act both before and after the Broadway show; Raymond Crowe as the Unusualist; and Jonathan Goodwin as the Daredevil.  They were replaced by the Escapologist, the Inventor, and the Weapon Master for the road version. There is no explanation of why the lineup changed.

The entire show was only about 90 minutes long, as opposed to the two hours of the Broadway version. The show seemed to fly by--another sort of deception that comes from good entertainment. Tickets were not inexpensive, but if you have never seen top illusionists at work and you like to laugh and be entertained by some of the best in the business, this show is for you.