Tag: Magic Shows View All Tags
Tags: Freaky Friday / Steve Wyrick / Magicians / Magic Shows / → All Tags
The Lights Are On, But Steve Wyrick's Not Home
Sigh. Looks like there’s one less weird thing on the Strip. According to LV Weekly, although the lights are still on, there’s nobody home at the Steve Wyrick Theater in Miracle Mile. Looks like it’s curtains for Wyrick's own show Real Magic.
Tags: Freaky Friday / Video / David Copperfield / Magic Shows / MGM Grand / → All Tags
David Copperfield Hypnotized Us Into Wanting To Go To His Show
You may need to turn the sound up to hear the full extent of the creepiness. Sorry!
So there we were, cruisin’ quietly down the Strip last night when we got caught right in the middle of a magician sandwich. On our right hand side was a truck pulling this David Copperfield ad. On our left, no less than two trucks, one behind the other, each carrying an ad for Lance Burton.
Being inexplicably drawn in by those liquid brown eyes and, um, sparkling white t-shirt, their fight for our gaze was won by Copperfield. But then, a horrid thing happened. Copperfield started talking to us, asking us to come to his “brand new show” at the MGM Grand. Over and over and over again, until we felt a little bit hypnotized. Poor Lance Burton was completely forgotten. Both of him.
Tags: Freaky Friday / Steve Wyrick / Magicians / Magic Shows / → All Tags
Is Steve Wyrick's Disappearing Act for Real?
You’d think magicians’ assistants were more natural teases than the headliners themselves, but illusionist Steve Wyrick is doing a proper line in keeping our interest at the moment. Last week, he seemed to be doing a disappearing act for real when he closed his theatre (the modestly named Steve Wyrick Theater at Miracle Mile) out of the blue and stopped returning calls. Then it got juicy as some of the other entertainers at the theatre sued him for doing a runner without paying them and he still didn't pick up the phone.
But now it appears to be more of a ‘now you see him, now you don’t’ game than a full blown disappearing stunt. Wyrick has posted a statement on his website saying that the closure is merely “temporary” and that it will “reopen and resume full operation by the end of the month.”
Tags: Magic Shows / Amazing Johnathan / Anthony Cools / Lance Burton / → All Tags
Amazing Johnathan Wins Award Then Spoils It By Defending Criss Angel
Vegas people are on an award-winning roll at the moment. If it’s not Donny Osmond winning Dancing with the Stars, it’s The Amazing Johnathan snaffling the prize for best comedy magic at the 2009 World Magic Awards last Wednesday.
Well done AJ! Unfortunately, he’s spoiled it all by writing on his website that Criss Angel’s Believe is “awesome”, “beautiful”, that “Criss is great in it” and that “if you don’t think it’s one of the greatest magic shows ever produced you are nuts.” Hmm.
In all of our interests, we’re not going to help you with booking Believe, but if you want to see The Amazing Johnathan, he’s on at the Harmon Theatre in the Miracle Mile, Tuesday to Saturday at 9pm, and tickets start at $59.95 plus tax.
In other magic news, Lance Burton will be off for a holiday December 13-25, reopening on Boxing Day. And Anthony Cools gets our own “comedy magic” award with his tweet the other day: “Fun show tonight, Glenda enjoyed her orgasm.” Incorrigible.
[Photo: Amazing Johnathan]
Tags: Celebrity Appearances / Neil Patrick Harris / Magic Shows / Penn and Teller / Rio Las Vegas / → All Tags
Neil Patrick Harris Meets Penn and Teller and It's Legen...Wait for It...Dary
Doogie aka Barney aka Neil Patrick Harris from "How I Met Your Mother" was at the Penn & Teller show on Monday night at Rio Las Vegas. While he was in the crowd for the show, he also got special backstage access to goof around with Penn & Teller.
But this wasn't just a glorified photo op for P&T and NPH, who was in town filming an appearance on "Live With Regis and Kelly". NPH is actually a fellow magician. He's on the Board of Directors at Hollywood's Magic Castle where he once filmed an episode of Top Chef Master's. (The boys even have Top Chef in common!) He also hosted the World Magic Awards last year and has won a magician's award himself.
Penn & Teller perform every night except Friday at The Rio starting at 9pm. Tickets start at $75 and VIP seats start at $85 and come with a 30-page color booklet. Go here to book or call the box office at 888 746 7784.
Tags: Magic Shows / Show Reviews / O'Sheas / Luke Jermay / → All Tags
This Man Will Actually Read Your Mind (We Think.)
So you’re in Vegas. You want to see some magic. But you don’t want to get landed with a cheesefest like Xtreme Magic and you’d rather tweeze your own fingernails out than spend money on Criss Angel. What to do?
May we suggest you try a slightly different kind of magic, courtesy of Mr Luke Jermay over at O’Sheas? Mental, his show, has no rabbits out of hats or prancing tigers or show-stealing acrobats. It just has an hour of so-good-I’m-actually-quite-spooked mindreading. Yup, good old-fashioned mindreading.
Jermay’s totally different from what you’d expect from a Vegas performer (from London, not brash, a kind of humble stage presence) but don’t let that put you off. Likewise, the special effects are reduced to a couple of swirly lights and confetti that he sprinkles when he’s taking a while to read minds. Don’t worry though – it just makes the magic stuff even more insane.
Tags: Magic Shows / Show Reviews / Magic / Tropicana / Dirk Arthur / → All Tags
'Xtreme Magic' Pulls Cheese Out of Thin Air
Dirk Arthur will go extreme on your behind with his magic tricks. He's serious.
It's funny how when you're at home, you never say, "Hey, let's do dinner and a magic show tonight." Yet in Vegas, it's one of those things that suddenly seems like a cool thing to do, with corny magicians getting top billing at hotels all along the strip. The Old Vegas Tropicana fittingly has its own resident cheesy illusionist, Dirk Arthur, who brings out his own litter of big cats for "Xtreme Magic," as seen on David Letterman (as Arthur likes to name-drop).
"Xtreme" is one word for it. The dancers in the show are extremely bad. In a town that attracts showgirls to perform in Jubilee! and acrobats to join Cirque du Soleil, you'd think that it would be easy to recruit some good cast-offs. The special effects—mainly the thick smoke—are extremely overdone. And Arthur's jokes fell flat; a dated dig at Dan Quayle was met with blank stares. But it wasn't all misses.
Tags: Magic Shows / Magic / David Copperfield / MGM Grand / → All Tags
David Copperfield Brings Magic, Eyebrows to MGM Grand
For nearly two weeks starting this Thursday, broodingly intense magic man David Copperfield will be bringing his act to the MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theatre. Fans will have two chances nightly to see him – 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. – with an additional 4:30 matinee on Saturdays. Read: this is one you might reasonably expect the kiddies to enjoy.
Of course, you can take the kids to see the show, but you might want to shield them from Copperfield’s somewhat tumultuous professional and personal history. From lobbing off the tip of his finger with scissors (scissors??) during a rope trick, to nearly drowning during a chain-me-up-in-a-tank-of-water trick gone awry, to being the subject of an FBI investigation concerning a 2007 allegation of sexual assault (Copperfield was never charged), he’s not exactly an entirely PG kinda fella.
Tags: Lance Burton / Magic Shows / Magic / Monte Carlo / Rumors / Vegas Celebs / → All Tags
Is Lance Burton Headed for Retirement?
Several weeks back, we reported that Lance Burton’s show at the Monte Carlo was on hiatus while he recovered from a foot injury and subsequent surgery last month.
However now, if you go the entertainment page on the Mirage’s Web site, you’ll see posted there that Burton’s show has been "cancelled until further notice." Further inquiries are being directed to two phone numbers: 877-386-8224 or 702-531-3825.
Tags: Shows / Magic Shows / Entertainment / → All Tags
Five Magic Shows To Watch in Vegas
When it comes to magic shows, no other city in the world delivers like Las Vegas. And here you can find everything from street tricks to elaborate productions, from newbie performers just starting to gain a following, to those whose name has transitioned beyond a Strip marquee. If you’re looking to be entertained and amazed by the best, start here:
David Copperfield
No list of Vegas magic shows can exist without the old Vegas standby, David Copperfield, he of the Zoolander-ish stare and the head-scratching chick pull (Claudia Schiffer??!!). He may have the name rec and the rep, but does he still have the chops? Reviews for his MGM Grand show are mixed—some say his illusions and heavy audience participation makes for amazing show, while some comment he looks bored while doing it. Of course, that could just be the Botox. If you’re going to see him, be prepared to pony up some cash; tix will cost you a good hundred bucks.
