THE ANTI-MAGIC MAGIC SHOW – The Hobgoblin Playhouse
Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
A comedy magic show for people who hate magic shows. Real one-star reviews, on-stage interrogations, fake psychic powers, tricks with math, and impossible moments sneak past your defenses while you’re too busy cringing. And the best part? You don’t even have to like magic. We kind of hope you don’t.
Benjamin B is the creator of ‘The Anti-Magic Magic Show,’ which is a magic show for people who hate magic. He is asking audience, ‘who really doesn’t want to be here.’ This suggests that people who have seen magic shows in Vegas or elsewhere else have been disappointed. The repetition of the old magic, familiar tricks and the frequently experienced illusion of the magic that feels foolish at times.
His approach to magic is open, instructive, fun and engaging. From setting up the page in the book by calling a person in advance, to folding a bill – hamburger style or hotdog style, to bending a metal … Of course, like any magic show, there is plenty of audience participation. Tricks that deliberately don’t work, to an amazing trick that uses cell phone technology, where one of the interesting and engaging moments is a section about numbers, where the audience uses calculators on their phone to figure out the complicated math challenge. And the peak moment was when he screwed up … and handles it with calmness, balance and humor. He nicely outlines the reasons why people don’t like magic and as a master of his craft, makes every moment entertaining, fun, charming and capable of holding everyone’s attention. He really has a charming smile. His assistants are Caiti Rey and Brianna Espinosa.
Premiering at The Hobgoblin Playhouse, in the time sequence of 50 minutes, magician and mentalist Benjamin B created, produced, and performed The Anti-magic magic show. He is a member and featured performer at the world-famous Magic Castle. He has invented magic for other prominent magicians including David Blaine, Piff the Magic Dragon, Colin Cloud, Dan White, and many others. Benjamin’s previous Hollywood Fringe shows include Buzz’d Out Live (Fringe Encore Award) and Trust Your Instincts (sold-out run).
The World premiere of The Anti-Magic Magic Show at The Hobgoblin Playhouse, 1516 N. Gardner St., Los Angeles, is one of the Hollywood Fringe Festival selections. The performances are on Friday, June 12 at 11:30 p.m., Thursday, June 18 at 10:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 27 at 12 p.m. (noon).
Consumer Advisory suggests: The show is for audiences age 13 to adult.