Magic is all about illusion.?Part of that illusion is dependent on how each magician presents himself.?Aside from performing tricks that will amaze their audience, each magician must also develop a rapport that keeps people interested and even slightly distracted.?
The weekend of September 28th, George Tovar and seven other area magicians captivated audiences by their slight of hand and humor at the Millennium Magic Show VIII at the Theatre West in Los Angeles.
the Millennium Magic Show
Performed once a year for the past eight years, the Millennium Magic show was held over the course of three days and featured a revolving line-up of magicians.? George Tovar, Master of Ceremonies, was the one constant over the weekend long festivities. He was joined by his colleagues from the Magic Castle in Hollywood.
Tovar was nominated as the Magician of the Year in 2005 by the Academy of Magical Arts and is also an actor who has performed many times on Theatre West’s stage.?
Joining Tovar on Friday the 28th was Lorenzo Clark, Joe Monti and Rob Zabrecky.?A roughly two hour show, the evening was filled with rope, card and escape tricks.?While each magician incorporated his own style and flair, the common theme of the evening was humor.
The magic act
Discovering that more goes into a show than just mastering the craft of magic, it was eye opening to realize these performers must also create a routine that keeps their audiences engaged.
This is where being an actor or comedian comes in handy, as the performers must create a flow to keep everyone entertained while segueing into each trick. In essence, they are comedians who perform mind-boggling magic.
Even though there was a logical explanation for each illusion, it was impossible to figure out how the tricks were performed.?There were many slight of hand maneuvers that were puzzling, but two tricks that stood out from the evening included George Tovar correctly guessing each card that eight different audience members were thinking of and Joe Monti effortlessly freeing his thumbs from being zip tied together.?
The evening ended with audience members wondering how bottles of wine were produced out of thin air and intertwined metal rings were separated, but if everyone knew how it was done, it would take all the fun out of it.
The other magicians involved in the weekend long Millennium Magic Show were Shawn McMaster, Michael Forbes, David Martinez and Mark Paskell.
Theatre West is located at:
3333 Cahuenga Blvd West
Hollywood, CA 90068
Or you can check out their website at: theatrewest.org
The Magic Castle is located at:
7001 Franklin Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90028
Or you can check out their website at: magiccastle.com
