Susan Granger’s review of “America Has Magic” (Lyman Hall at Southern Connecticut State Univ.)
If you see that a touring company called “America Has Magic” is heading for a theater near you, grab your tickets now – because this intoxicating mixture of mayhem and magic will probably wind up on Broadway.
Featuring four of the greatest magicians from “America’s Got Talent” and Penn and Teller’s “Fool Us,” it’s chock full of surprises and delight.
Adroitly MC’d by Derek Hughes, whose quirky, sleight-of-hand tricks are intriguing, it kicks off with Zabrecky, a strange, tuxedo-clad character who involves audience members in a supernatural séance that’s haunted by his elderly grandfather. I’d seen Zabrecky at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, where he’s a three-time Magician of the Year award-winner.
Zabrecky’s followed by the world-famous mentalist duo, Jeff and Tessa Evason, who establish such charismatic synchronicity with the audience that they’re able to perform astounding, mind-bending feats of ESP and Second Sight. I was utterly entranced by the inexplicable ability of the Evasons, who come as close to perfection as any mentalism act I’ve ever seen.
Last-but-certainly-not-least is comedic Mac King, a headliner in Las Vegas with his own, long-running show at Harrah’s. King’s slyly unpredictable, down-home Kentucky folksiness is reminiscent of Will Rogers. He amuses with his Cloak of Invisibility and Goin’ Fishing, a flight of fancy.
Culminating with a standing ovation, “America Has Magic” is an enchanted evening of playful entertainment. It’s absolutely impossible not to enjoy this elixir of delight.