Now you see it ...

Musings on the future of magic in Las Vegas

BY JAQ GREENSPON

PHOTOS BY BILL HUGHES

In a city built on artifice, it seems rather ironic that the most truthful thing is deceit itself.

In the past decade or so, Las Vegas has become home to more magicians and illusionists per capita than anywhere else in the country, if not the world. Siegfried & Roy may have opened the doors in 1967 when they first appeared as the novelty act in the Tropicana's Folies Bergere, but even their move to the Mirage in 1990 wasn't responsible for the flood that followed. Really, all they did was show that a magic act could hold its own on the Strip alongside name performers and huge production reviews. They paved the way for the likes of Lance Burton and Steve Wyrick.

Like it does everywhere, success breeds imitation. Other hotel-casinos started looking to grab the tiger by the tail. A white tiger, preferably. And for the rebels of magic, those who saw the art as something more than making elephants disappear, that was the opening they needed to sneak into the limelight.

Thankfully, the magic scene in Las Vegas hasn't been the same since.

In the late '70s, a magician named Richiardi closed his show with an absolutely stunning illusion. He took his young assistant and cut her in half. That's it. There was no resolution beyond it. He would invite the audience to walk up and examine the corpse, entrails and all. For Teller, the smaller and quieter half of Penn & Teller, the brilliance was in leaving the audience with a feeling of intellect and not of horror, despite the viscera dripping across the stage.

"It's interesting to see what people say as they walk by," Teller recalls Richiardi saying. "I remember one time a gentleman said, 'It's a trick.' Of course it's a trick. I couldn't actually kill a woman every night I do the show.

"But is it well done?"

That's the question: How well does the illusion do what it sets out to do? For Teller, this is what he wants to know, and part of the answer reveals where he thinks magic is heading.

"Most magicians, like comedians, measure success by the audience's reaction, not how well they're getting their point across. If it gets a big reaction, then it's a good trick. Fuck them. If it does what you want it to, then it's a good trick."

For Penn & Teller, a good trick is one where there's a collision between what you see and what you know, the intellectual with the visceral. For other magicians as well, the visceral is becoming more of the point. While the reaction is always the point, the storylines have changed; and the modern magician isn't always as interested in the happy ending.

But is that going to fly in Las Vegas?

Magic is best suited to a live forum. There's something inherently wrong with watching an illusion on TV. The power to suspend disbelief is severely compromised because somewhere, in the back of your head, there's a little voice saying: "It's not real." You don't want to believe in it, and TV gives you the easy out. Somehow they're using trickery to make you believe the paper rose that David Copperfield made is floating in front of him, suspended by nothing. Of course, when you see Kevin James, the man who created the illusion, perform it during his spot in "The World's Greatest Magic Show" from less than 3 feet away, then it's a miracle. Which is what magic is all about.

"It's not about fooling people," says pick-pocket entertainer Apollo Robbins. "Magic is about the moment created."

James concurs: "Magic happens in the head and not on stage."

This point is illustrated beautifully by Penn & Teller in the opening of their show. The duo famous for "revealing" tricks invites the audience to actually watch the machinations behind the illusion, known simply as "honor system." The gag is set when you walk into the theater and are invited to examine two boxes that are on the stage. Then, during his opening spiel, Penn has Teller climb into one box, which is then put into the second, which is hasp-locked from the outside. As an audience, we are told we have a choice to make: We can close our eyes or keep them open. This seems rather simple, but the rub is that the magicians aren't going to put up any curtains or sight-blocking devices. If we choose to keep our eyes open, we will see exactly how the trick is pulled off. If, however, we choose to close our eyes, Penn explains, the illusion can be anything we wish it to be - from a metaphysical transmogrify to a spiritual soul journey.

It doesn't matter, because if all we see is Teller in the box and then out of it, the entire effect has happened 3 inches behind our eyes and not several feet in front.

I don't know if anyone actually closed their eyes. I think we were all too curious for that, but their point has been made. Magic is about choice, and it's an adult choice. As Robbins says, "Magic needs to grow up." It's moving away from the top hat and tails of traditional practitioners and into a new arena.

In October 2003, when Montecore attacked Roy Horn, effectively ending his career, a huge void was opened in the Las Vegas magic scene. Kevin James isn't sure what's going to fill it, but he's pretty sure white tigers aren't the answer. And having been in the profession for more than 20 years, he should know.

"Whatever is different will be the next big thing," he says. Magic will become more personality-based rather than trick-based. A magician could "have the power of a songwriter if they took the time to make the audience care." Which isn't to say that an audience doesn't care about the spectacle of an elephant vanishing, but today they need more than that. They need a personal connection if the art is going to advance.

That personal connection can be found all over the Strip, just not in the big showrooms. With the exception of Penn & Teller, none of the names on the cutting edge have their own space to perform. Mac King, who has elevated the role of country-bumpkin magician to the highest level, jumps between renting time in Harrah's Improv showroom and Clint Holmes' theater. King's show, which runs in the afternoon, introduces us to a real human being who does amazing things right before our eyes. Kevin James shares the stage with a number of other magicians in a family-friendly, variety-style show. The Amazing Johnathan, who is as far from family-friendly as you can get, takes over the stage after La Cage has retired for the night. And Robbins? Right now he doesn't even have a show (although that could change after the first of the year - look for him downtown).

Why does Las Vegas have such a love/hate relationship with prestidigitation? It has to do with perception.

Recently, at Mac King's show, a 5-year-old was in the audience. He turned to his companions and asked if the magician was going to be wearing a top hat. When he was told no, his immediate response was: "Where's he going to get the rabbit from?"

Most adults wonder the same thing.

They've been conditioned to look for the rabbit and try to suss out the trick. And they want to do it from their seat. The last thing audience members want to do is be hauled up on stage where someone is going to embarrass or humiliate them.

This is what a magic show is to most people. For those who see Copperfield and Lance Burton as the typical show, it's extravaganzas like The Showgirls of Magic that qualify as avant-garde. Fair enough. Showgirls has five beautiful women, often topless, performing the illusions, instead of one or two men. But still, there's really no magic in it. There are some great tricks, and the evening is fun for frat boys, but if the art is going to advance, the audience needs to be re-educated.

With the exception of the Amazing Johnathan, who has redefined the genre of comedy-magic all by himself, the rest of the local magic group wants you in on the gag. For Johnathan, who started out as a decent sleight-of-hand artist, you are the gag. He has foregone the noticeable magic in favor of getting a laugh, but even then he uses a lot of magic's basic principles to set up his jokes. As Robbins explains: "Magic is decided by the audience. It's up to them to decide if what you've done is a miracle or not." Magic is not about being superior to the "mark" (the person who picks the card), which is what happens among amateurs and why most people are afraid of the guy fanning out a deck of cards.

When Uncle Morty first pulled a quarter from your ear or Cousin Frank found your card among a pack of 52, you were amazed. And you probably asked how they did it. When they laughed and said they wouldn't tell you (because, after all, everyone knows a magician never tells), you felt silly and possibly stupid. And that feeling stays with you. You know it's a trick when Lance Burton disappears, but you don't really feel the pangs until he blows a whistle alerting you to the fact that he's elsewhere in the theater.

For performers like Robbins and Kevin James, that's the last reaction they want you to have. Robbins does everything in plain sight of his audience - after telling them exactly what he's going to do. There are no surprises. He brings you right along with him through what he calls a "grift sense." He "rides the audience's attention span," in order to make sure they get the most enjoyment out of his thievery.

James feels the same way. His act is structured like a roller-coaster ride to create a "plethora of emotions." And Mac King spends a good deal of his act with a member of the audience on stage with him, mostly because he loves to see their reaction. The 5-year-old who wondered about the top hat was later holding a glass of water on stage, ready to catch a goldfish that mysteriously appeared in King's mouth.

And the masters of the craft, Penn & Teller, have been helping audiences see through the bullshit for years. When they decided to do the ages-old "cups-and-balls" routine with clear cups, the magic community was outraged. One rival magician had the temerity to ask, "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

The duo calmly responded, "We're on the side of the audience."

So where do we go from here? Teller points out: "Starting at about [age] 10 or 12, you realize it is possible for the world to look different than it really is. You discover that lie and you want to discover the power of controlling that trickery. Understand it. Otherwise you are in danger."

That's where we're going. The next generation of magicians is already making their mark.

Teller recounts the story of a 15-year-old he met recently at a magic convention who wants his card tricks to reflect the realities of life, where there aren't always happy endings and the card isn't always found. The Amazing Johnathan spends a majority of his act trying to restore a torn bill - which doesn't get restored, but is useful to get laughs. He also stabs his assistant in the head with a pair of scissors. Teller runs a bunny through a woodchipper, and never brings him back. Kevin James cuts a man in half and has the body parts run around the stage on their own. Even the Showgirls of Magic put their tops back on.

Yet they all continue to amaze us. We enjoy their shows more because of this, not in spite of it. We are finally seeing magic that reflects modern moods. We want to look behind the curtain and pay attention to the man found there, because he knows more about what's going on than anyone else.

We know it's a trick. The question we have to ask ourselves is: "Is it well done?"

Jaq Greenspon is a freelance writer and amateur magician who has written books, TV shows and can find your card with only three guesses. He is currently auditioning for a beautiful assistant.

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Getting started

Well, now you've done it. You got little Timmy or young Cloudie a color-changing wand or magic set for a birthday or holiday gift, and now they are hooked. They love doing the plastic tricks and want to move up to the next level. What do you do? Where do you go? How do you encourage the next Melinda or Lance, the future Penn or Teller? Heck, what if you just want to learn a few tricks to impress friends or reawaken a part of yourself lost since you were 12?

You buy books and videos, and get in touch with like-minded people.

Everything you could want to learn about magic can be found in a book, somewhere. Today, more and more magicians are publishing their lecture notes and coming out with monographs on various subjects, so nothing is outside the realm of possibilities.

One of the best books to start with is Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic, which retails for around $19.95. At almost 500 pages, this book is the cornerstone in any magician's library and a fine place to get a general overview of all the types of magic around. A smaller, stocking-stuffer version called Mark Wilson's Cyclopedia of Magic sells for about half the price, but contains almost as much magic.

From there a foundation can be built with the eight-volume Tarbell course. Harlan Tarbell is the repository of magic, and almost all of the foundations can be found in these tomes if you look hard enough. Certainly, at just under $200 for the entire series, it can be a little pricey (individual volumes range from $20-$30) - but if you are going to be serious, it's a worthwhile investment.

Once the basics are learned and the kids want to narrow their fields - say Timmy wants to be a card manipulator and Cloudie wants to use coins - then you can get more specialized with things like the Royal Road to Card Magic or Modern Coin Magic.

If visuals are more your speed, L&L Publishing (www.llpub.com) has created dozens of starter and advanced DVDs showing everything you need to get started. According to Earl Chaney, who has been in the business for more than 35 years and owns Planet Mirth Magic Shop (5115 South Industrial Road, #107; 702-261-0515), you should stick with books. Watching a video may give you the mechanics, but it won't help you develop a style all your own.

So how do you learn style? By hanging out with other magicians. Denny & Lee Magic Studio (5115 South Industrial Road, #907; 702-740-3500) offers an open-mike-style showcase on the first Tuesday of every month, where anyone can try out a piece and get feedback from others. On Wednesday nights, magical legend Gary Darwin hosts an informal gathering of local talent, where the talks can last late into the evening. You can also join the International Brotherhood of Magicians (www.ring257.com). Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the magical arts.

JAQ GREENSPON

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Other magicians

Lance Burton

If you're looking for traditional top-hat and coattails-style magic you can't do better than Lance Burton. His Kentucky-bred, aw-shucks personality dominates his show, which blends large-scale illusions with more intimate sleight of hand. Lance is also an advocate for continuing the art of magic. He has sponsored young magicians, and regularly invites them to perform in his show or on his TV specials.

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David Copperfield

One of the most well-known magicians of the age, Copperfield performs regularly in the Hollywood Showroom at the MGM. (He will be there over the Christmas holiday, and you can check www.davidcopperfield.com for future engagements.) Technically, he is one of the sharpest illusionists out there, and an audience coming to see the types of effects they've seen on TV won't be disappointed.

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The World's Greatest Magic Show

Kozak brings a wise-guy persona to the MC slot, complete with zoot suits and a wonderfully over-the-top, bombastic personality. Joseph Gabriel produces birds from seemingly nowhere. His slot in the Greek Isles-based show is a highlight, especially for the children, when he produces two beautiful parrots that fly around the room. Rounding out the regulars are the Majestix, a traditional two-person act with a magician and a gorgeous woman sharing the magical duties. They do standards - but do them very well. And again, the young ones go wild for the appearance of a wild tiger at the end of one illusion. There are also several rotating slots held by touring magicians who stop by for a week at a time to participate in the fun atmosphere.

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Murray

Known as "The Guy with the CDs," Murray holds the 10-minute magician slot in the MGM's La Femme - and that is a shame. His full act rivals any traditional show on the Strip. And as a family-friendly show, it is almost a waste to put him in an adults-only review. Fortunately, he gets the chance to strut his stuff at venues all over the world. You can check out his schedule at www.murraymagic.com.

JAQ GREENSPON

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Catching the acts

Mac King

Harrah's

Tuesdays through Saturdays

1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

$16.95

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Penn & Teller

The Rio

Nightly (dark Tuesdays)

9 p.m.

$70

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Kevin James

Greek Isles

Nightly

9 p.m.

7 p.m. and 9 p.m. (Fridays)

2 p.m. (Sundays)

$63.75 and $74.75

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The Amazing Johnathan

The Riviera

Nightly (dark Thursdays)

10 p.m.

$39.95 and $54.95

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The Showgirls of Magic

(featuring Steve Daly)

Hotel San Remo

Nightly (dark Mondays)

8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

$39.00

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Apollo Robbins is not currently appearing in a regular show. But look for him to appear in a new show downtown sometime in early 2005.

JAQ GREENSPON