Tuesday, July 19, 2005. Crowds were light and the shows were great.
My evening began in the early Parlour with Fred Moore. I wrote about Moore last week when he performed in the Palace, and was impressed with his visual and entertaining act. This week, Moore performed stand-up with an excellent rope trick (a repeat from his Palace performance) and a ball manipulation segment. I particularly enjoyed his take on the living necktie, a method that I had never before had the pleasure of seeing live. Moore also made particularly good use of music throughout his act with intro segments that set the mood. More great work from an excellent worker.
The Palace featured a classy and impressive line-up with Mark Haslam, Michael Grasso and Danny Cole. Haslam, the impeccable Brit, was master of ceremonies and he served his comedic take on the linking rings, strait jacket and six-card repeat-all crowd pleasers.
I had never seen the precise work of Michael Grasso who multiplied wine glasses and manipulated cards. His technique was flawless. Those of you who are into card manipulation will want to catch this performer’s dramatic and technically impressive act.
Danny Cole won last year’s Magician of the Year award and it’s easy to see why. I hadn’t seen Cole’s act in a number of years. While I recall his act being great in the past, it is now outstanding. Besides performing visual magic with perfect technique, his act makes superb use of music. You’ll want to see Cole to see why he earned his title of Magician of the Year, and you’ll thoroughly enjoy watching him as well.
Not relying on his good looks, after all, looks do fade with time, Handsome Jack combined great magic with a hilarious and consistent theme. Magicians can learn a lot from this performer about creating a character and building a complete show around it. Handsome Jack performed some effects that I hadn’t seen him perform before, which were impressive and entertaining.
Holding court in the Close-up room are long-time Castle favorites: David Yee and Bruce Cervon. It’s another “must see” week at the Magic Castle. If you’re in the LA area, you’ll want to visit.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
