Beyond Belief II

I was really looking forward to seeing Misconnections this weekend. However, I found out it was sold out on Sunday, which was the only day I could see it because Saturday night I was seeing a magic show with my friend. After I saw the magic show, called Beyond Belief II, I realized that it was just as much of a theater experience as any other play.
I really enjoyed myself during the show. Despite it being over three hours long and in Princeton, New Jersey, I’m certainly glad I went. There were four different acts, with a few smaller acts done by the emcee during short breaks. While magicians were not actors, they definitely needed to have all the skills of actors plus some just to succeed. The magicians I saw were just as good of performers as performers I could have seen if I had gone to a Broadway show. Not only did the performers on stage have to focus on doing their tricks correctly, they also had to constantly converse with the audience, make jokes, and keep the show entertaining and intriguing.

The only problem with the show was that I was well aware I was seeing a show. This was mostly due to the magicians’ choices to talk to the audience. Some magic shows I’ve seen where the performers don’t talk to the audience seem to draw people in more. Still, I think that the performers in this show decided to talk to the audience constantly because they didn’t want to bore the younger audience members. Also, and I’m sure this was for safety reasons, but all the theater lights went on many times during the show—usually when an audience member entered or exited the stage on the side stairs. During these few moments I found myself checking my phone, seeing if I had any new messages, or whispering things to my friend. I think it would have been more effective if the lighting people decided only to turn on the lights near the stairs leading to the stage, rather than in the whole theater.

Of course, the best parts of the show were the amazing tricks that were performed. Many of them were simple card tricks or rope tricks, yet they seemed so much more entertaining when the professional magicians performed them. Some tricks were more sophisticated, such as moving a woman’s body parts into different places or making a bird appear and disappear. I always tried to determine how the magicians did these illusions. Some, I figured out. When one of the magician’s assistants “flew,” there was an obvious rope above her stomach. However, the majority of tricks I couldn’t figure out, and still am thinking about them now.

Overall, it was a great show. I certainly hope this counts as theater, because once Beyond Belief II ended, I really felt like I had just seen a show.