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Hollywood Fringe 2017

The New Bad Boys of Magic

The Mystery Society

Genre: Comedy, Magic

Venue: Complex Flight Theatre

Festival:


Low Down

Magic Duo that’s NSFW.

Review

At first, it seems like the title “The New Bad Boys of Magic” is a misnomer.  From the start of the show, a clean-cut Daniel Donohue graces the stage wearing a skinny tie and converse sneakers promising some standard, wholesome magic tricks the whole family can enjoy.  Suddenly, he gets heckled by a roughed-up, down-on-his-luck Eric Siegel, Donohue’s ex-magic partner who faked his own death as part of a scheme trying to rob a Las Vegas casino. Ever since the the fallout, Donohue has performed magic solo exclusively for kids’ birthday parties.  Slowly but surely, Siegel worms his way into Donohue’s act, transforming it into a show far less appropriate for children, or, recovering alcoholics for that matter, and the title is justified.

The magic tricks are fun and pulled off with only a modest gusto — kudos to them for never making a big deal out of any of their own tricks — whether they’re telling a story with a deck of cards, making rewarding use of a girl popping out of a box, or making an entire bottle of rum disappear (gosh, I hope that was a trick).  But the magic is almost secondary to their comic repartee as adversaries.  The jokes keep coming and never stop.  Sometimes they’re funny; other times, they’re funny and clever, too.  If Siegel and Donohue want to up their game as “bad boys” of magic, they’ll need to introduce a few prostitutes and drug binging into the act, which of course, they shouldn’t, but even without those accoutrements, they make for a solid and entertaining duo.

These bad boy are pretty good.  Even if you think you’re not the kind of person who enjoys magic, you wouldn’t be disappointed by what they have to offer.  They pull off a great many feats.  Their greatest trick of all was making their fifty minute show feel like no time at all. -ZACHARY BERNSTEIN

Published