Magicians Matt Vizio and Tom Frank are performing in the Peller Theatre this week at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California.
One of the questions we are almost never asked is, “Is there really such a person as Matt Vizio?”
We are reluctant to answer questions about true legends for fear that we will leave out a detail or embellish unfairly. (For an example of this tendency and the reason for our trepidation see our horribly reviewed book Wyatt Earp: The World’s Best Short-Order Cook in the West (1978 Simon and Schuster) – although it was made into a very successful movie franchise (or so we and our lawyers currently claim in a soon to be filed lawsuit) called Guardians of the Galaxy.
We have known Mr. Vizio for going on a long time and have even had the honor of performing with him in a stand-up setting. He is what we hope to become one day: young, handsome, funny and talented. Actually, we don’t care about the talented as much as the first three qualities. The ladies love him, the men want to be like him, the dogs sniff him and wonder where he has been.
Mr. Vizio used to perform one or two tricks in his set downstairs in the amateur room wherein performers of our ilk are allowed to work. But he graduated to upstairs at the Castle – ironically, the “Upstairs at the Castle” was the name of our least successful BBC melodrama Series not featuring human actors. He has been seen in the Close-Up Gallery and this week will be in the Peller. His act has expanded dramatically and he performs effects the way they should be performed. For instance, his Cups and Balls is one of the best we have seen in years. It is in keeping with Dai Vernon’s school of making all actions appear normal, relaxed and fair.
Matt is not just a great magician in all of the classical realms of Close-Up, Parlor and Stage; but he is also a talented stand-up comedian with the adlib instincts of a veteran.
He was responsible for introducing us to performing stand-up comedy and audiences across the San Fernando Valley damn him daily for this. Interestingly, “Damn Him Daily” was the name of our 1960s daily puppet show that we pitched to PBS – they went with Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood because of some reason we don’t recall because we were in tears explaining it to the puppets and formed a mental block surrounding that time.
If you have a chance, check out Mr. Vizio this evening through the weekend at the Peller Theatre at the Magic Castle. He will be performing with Tom Frank. We have not seen Tom Frank perform before but we know that if he is performing with Mr. Vizio, you will be entertained, amazed and leave laughing.
Mr. Vizio and Mr. Frank will have shows at 8:00, 10:00 and 11:30 Wednesday through Sunday.
Check out Mr. Vizio’s website, Honest Deception here.
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