So I am sitting in LAS waiting for my flight which has been delayed so I decided to post some reviews of some shows I have seen in the past week.

Penn & Teller - With an amazing full audience interaction opener to many other unique effects this show had the audience in P&Ts palms the entire show. Although having a large theatre P&T were able to make the entire show very intimate. I especially liked it because as an illusionist you get sick of seeing magicians that have off the rack props, or just props with paint job or other minor modifications. It gets rather disappointing when you can sit in the audience a rhyme off '$6,000.00 , $13,000.00, $4,500.00 as the props get rolled out on stage' which luckily wasn't the case with this show. They had a lack of 'Scenery' which took away from the las vegasey type of show but added much more in attention to them, the routine, and their effects. They met outside the theatre to sign autographs and shake hands and unlike most magi didn't push BOR down your throat on stage or even in the lobby. Overall I'll give it 4.5 out of 5 magic hats.

Next we saw Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo. Great show with a terrific story line behind it but unfortunately the story line was forgotten at some points and just swept to the side and revisited every so often. I think if you are going to have a story line in your show you should stick with it the entire way. He had many elaborate set pieces for what otherwise would just be a few 'smaller' illusions such as excalibur, duck bucket, etc. He had a few original effects but a fair amount of 'off the line' illusions. But hey if the classics work I say stick with it! He somewhat promoted magic items but again didn't force it into peoples laps. He unforuntately didn't sign or do anything of the sort after the show but it was a LARGE crowd (to say vegas is slow this time of year). Which is understandable due to the large crowd and the busy nature of Lances schedule. Luckily I was able to schedule some time with Lance during the week I have been here and he had many insightful opinions. I would give this show 3.5 magic wands out of 5.

Mac King - Mac was apparently out this week, which wasn't a huge bother because I had seen him before but was replaced by the fabulous Jeff Hobson. Jeff's show full of comedy and magic had the rather small crowd on their knees with laughter during the entire show. I have seen MANY magic shows and get used to the same cliche jokes and comments, and luckily Hobson was original! 100% new jokes. He pushed the merch a little bit and unfortunately the theatre crew jumped out waving dvds photos tricks and souvineirs trying to get people to buy. I am going to rate this show 4.8 out of 5. I take away .2 due to the obnoxious theatre staff but keep it at a higher level because I had a couple sitting behind me !@#$%ing before the show started wanting their money back because Mac King wasn't there, then when the show was over they gave Jeff a standing O. I say BravO Jeff!

Last but certainly not least magician we saw while in vegas was Rick Thomas, although a small crowd he performed as though thousands were watching. Unfortunately many illusions were off the line illusions, and he had very limited set pieces. As well he had 2-4 dragged out dance numbers which basically made me yawn. He pushed atleast 3-4 different items forsale after the show as well as had people at you when you walked out to buy buy buy! His VIP guests experienced some time after the show to be able to meet the tigers, ask questions, etc. which was a rather nice touch. Im unfortunately rating this one 3 out of 5 due to the lack of set, and too much BOR pushing & lengthy dance numbers.

Ah yes and who can forget the street magician 'George' from outside La salsa on the strip. Not being rude or prejudice but George has a lisp and it was hard to understand what he was saying. He dropped a palmed coin on the ground, and a drunk ran off with his deck of cards. George Im giving you.3 out of 5. Sorry man!

And of course an un-magical yet still magical show we saw was Cirque du Soleil's 'O'. If you have the chance go and see it! I have seen a few cirque shows and this one was by far my favorite! 5 out of 5! No one pushing promo items, or ANYTHING before or after or during the show.

Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, or post a review of your own about these shows!

I'm confused...

You stated, "as an illusionist you get sick of seeing magicians that have off the rack props" in the P&T review, and then later in the Lance review you stated, "He had a few original effects but a fair amount of 'off the line' illusions. But hey if the classics work I say stick with it!"

Which is it?

Keith,

I should state I dislike when all they have are off the rack props. The reason I say stick with it for lance is, he has been doing what he has been doing for a LONG time and it works for him!

Very good info - thanks for the post.

Jim

Back of room sales are a must for the working pros.
Like it or not it's part of the Business.

If you don't do it your most likely going out of business.
This is for anyone that does a big show in a tourist town.
When magicians complain about the sales of merch, then I know that they haven't been in the shoes of the people that have to do it.

It makes all of the difference at the end of the day.
I know that your just stating that some people do it to much, but the people that do it the best are the ones that normally make the most money.

Here in Branson they shove it down your throat... But it does help pay the bills.
Don't come to my show, you would hate it then...
We sell a lot of stuff during the intermission.
Thank you,
Just my thought on this..
Taylor
Here in Branson they don't call it BOR sells they call it selling stuff off the stage or in the gift shops.
That is mainly what they call it in the corporate world I would think..
Even Vegas sells stuff in the gift shop or out front of the showroom..

Taylor knows.

Well put, Taylor -- I couldn't agree more. It makes a huge difference to your bottom line...I know it does mine, anyway.

Taylor,

I agree that it does have to be done, but when after every routine you promote something I believe it is a little much. During ricks show he promotes his poster, dvd, stuffed tiger, magic kit, magic trick, magic wand, photo programs, 8X10's, and post cards.

In my show I promote usually 3 items during the show which I don't feel is very large, but I believe 9 products is a little large. When every 10 minutes the flow of the show is interupted (not saying it interups your show) its a little much. In rick's show he would out of nowhere bring out a product, talk about it, and hand it to a crowd member who wasn't even involved in an illusion/routine.

My opinions, everyone is entitled to them.

I do hope that your last sentence was intended to be more like "These are my opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own."

As worded it implies that we are all entitled to your opinions.

Sorry frank, I meant 'these are my opinons. everyone is entitled to them' meaning everyone can have their own opinions.

But everyone (or at least all Café members) IS entitled to MagicalOdyssey's opinions. If he had wanted to keep them to himself he wouldn't (or shouldn't) have posted them. Of course, we don't have to have the same opinions.

Thom

One of the things I really like about P&T is that they use ordinary things to do their tricks. It's not like they use things that normal people have never seen before. That makes it magic. When people see non-everyday things immediately they are suspicious.

P&T also use plenty of unordinary items like sawing boxes and so on. What make them great ar both their original takes on classics and their interpetations. Everything they do is about something. Their show has some IQ to it, I think their routines are more a vehicle of expression than others.

Sometimes among all the good shows, I wonder what is happening in Vegas..?
I really wonder how come that performers like Steve Dacri and Larry & Rafael can get running contracts in Vegas.

In my opinion the Masked Magician is no problem for magicians, BUT magic which sucks and is really bad. that's really not good for us. Mayby OT but anyway..

All the best

/Jimmy

I am guessing the problem is with corporations that own the resorts and they see that they can charge everyone so that they have more money coming in!

We live in Vegas and what most people don't realize is that in many situations here, the performer or producer is just renting the room, or 4-walling. They are expected to cover all the advertising and staff costs as well. The only profit these performers make is from ticket sales and merchandise sales. There are other situations, like 2-walling, where the performer doesn't have to pay for all of the advertising, but still is paying some form of rent to have their show in that particular room. It's pretty rare in Vegas for a performer have a casino provide a salary and pay for the advertising, and 4-walling a room is an easy way to loose thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. We've seen many shows come and go, and witnessed a lot of performers loose a LOT of money here.

Kinight Magic, beyond the quality of the show itself what would you say business wise accounts for the enduring shows like P&T, Mac, Lance?

What the big name acts in Vegas have in common is originality, TV success, a name for themselves and a signature style, years of hard work and dedication, and an understanding of the business side of the industry (which is just as important as the quality of the show). And at least initially, a show would need lots of money to invest or low overhead (low cost production). Throw in some good luck and you might have a formula for success in Vegas, but if I knew the answer to that for sure, then you'd be listing my names with those guys as well.

Knight Magic do your think these guys, or DC, are 4-wallers?

I personally think Rick Thomas is a 4 waller (I'm just giving my opinion)

The other's I doubt it - but I'd love to find out!

Daniel