Tag: The Illusionists

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Illusionist Adam Trent is So Much More!

Image of Adam TrentMagician Adam Trent, known to audiences as “The Futurist” is moving from touring with and Broadway smash THE ILLUSIONISTS to his own tour with his show THE MAGIC OF Adam Trent.  The show is a great mixture of magic, comedy and magic with a family focus.  He brings his show to the beautiful Balboa Theatre in equally lovely San Diego, California this Saturday, March 24th.

He caught the magic bug as a young ‘un and was inspired by David Copperfield.  Unlike many, his magic love turned to obsession and fascination and he moved on to shows for birthday parties and nursing homes.  Mr. Trent’s nickname, The Futurist, comes from his desire to bring the latest tech into his magic performances.

Mr. Trent believes he is more than just a magician – not that being a magician isn’t sufficient – but he strives to be an entertainer; hence the comedy and music in his show.

Says Mr. Trent, “I want them to say it was completely different than they expected a magic show to be. I want them to say they laughed harder than they ever have in a theatre, and I want them to have been emotionally moved by the end.”

Reporters forewarn audiences that one of this personal faves in the show is borrowing an audience member’s cell phone to serve as blender-fodder. “I borrow an audience members phone and put it in a blender onstage. I always enjoy seeing how different people react to that.”

Our guess, the reactions probably have a rather small spectrum from surprise, to concern, to more surprise and concern.

“My goal is to make people forget about the tricks. Will they be fooled? Yes. But I want them to not care about being fooled because they are too busy laughing.”

Why do folks like magic?  “It’s the closest thing to being a real life superhero. Magicians are people who make the impossible seemingly possible. It’s like being James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, and Superman all in one. I certainly want to be that guy.”

You can see Mr. Trent’s show and reading article http://www.broadwaysd.com for tickets and showtime information.

Check out young Mr. Trent on his tour on Twitter and Facebook @AdamTrent Magic.

We can’t wait for him to sojourn to the Los Angeles area where we will see him and give a full review.  In the meantime, we will watch him on his excellent website here: https://www.adamtrent.com/

Magician Feature

Escape Artist Andrew Basso Profiled

Inside Magic Image of Andrew BassoThe Minneapolis Star-Tribune has a great profile piece on Italian escapologist Andrew Basso today.  Mr. Basso is receiving raves for his twist on Houdini’s Water Torture Cell escape performed as his turn in The Illusionists nationwide tour.

How did he get into magic?  To impress mom.

“If you knew my mother, you would say she’s Morticia [Addams],” he said.  “She was very serious, no smiles. But when the circus came, she watched the magician’s act, and laughed out loud. I thought, Aha! He has the power to make my mother laugh. I want to be like him.”

He has worked escapes professionally since 2003 and has brought audiences to the edge of their seats and the limits of their composure town after town during The Illusionists’ tour.

Mr. Basso can hold his breath for about four minutes but aims to be out of the restraints and back to breathing air in two minutes.  He has had a couple of close-calls.

“It was this big opening, Sydney Opera House, and I was pumped — I just couldn’t get my adrenaline down,” he said.  “After 2 minutes and 30 seconds, it was taking longer than normal, and my guys knew that I was in trouble, so they got me out.”

He was also burned when performing an escape on live Italian TV.  He was locked in a wooden coffin rigged with explosives and severely burned over his face and hands.  “I haven’t done that trick again, but I would, but different,” he said. “I learned something from it.”

Be sure to check out his incredible website here.

Check out The Illusionists’ website to get updates on their tour schedule.

Latest Magic News

Hollywood Press Ga-Ga Over the Illusionists

The IllusionistsOut here in the greater Hollywood environs, just about everyone gets The Wrap delivered throughout the day to their email address.

It is one of the industry news sources, along with The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, relied upon by those in power and those hoping to one day attain power.

The Wrap emails come as entertainment news breaks: a dependable Hollywood star loses funding on his next big movie, a venerable talent agency picks up a new five-star client, a disgruntled writer sues a studio for allegedly ripping off a script idea.  If Congress decided to declare war on Canada, it would not likely be in The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter or Variety unless it affected production on some film project in Toronto.

The big three also publish reviews of plays, movies, live shows and artistic endeavors.  The Hollywood reviewers are usually very knowledgeable and pragmatic in their evaluation of the shows.  They can also be brutal.

We were relieved, then, to read the glowing reviews of The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible in The Wrap.

The producers of that ill-fated “Houdini” musical starring Hugh Jackman can let out a collective sigh of relief that their star decided not to do the show. “The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible” opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre and there’s no way a tuner based on the life of the world’s most famous illusionist could possibly be any more fun and awe-inspiring than this new magic show on Broadway.

The review describes the performers in glowing terms and with the enthusiasm normally found in a devotee rather than a jaded critic.

“Anyone who’s ever seen newsreels of Houdini performing this feat, or others like it, has wanted to go back in time to experience first-hand the cheesy excitement of seeing a brilliant stunt performer at work risking his life. Here’s your chance.”

The reviewer describes Inside Magic Favorite Dan Sperry’s performance as the most frightening.

The scariest moment in the show, however, involved a woman from out of town who really, really didn’t want to play a game of Russian roulette with the very Goth and genuinely weird Dan Sperry (The Anti-Conjuror). By the way, what is an anti-conjuror? Whatever, in addition to creeping people out, Sperry conjures up a whole menagerie of flying birds from his Count Dracula get-up. Truly amazing.

The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible runs through January 4 on Broadway before embarking on a multi-city tour of the United States.

Read The Wrap’s review here.