Magic Tricks

This was my first introduction to the work of Larry Hass, and my first impression was "Oh no, Eugene has cut his beard!".. I mean, insane! the intonations, the pronounciations, the silences, and even some facial expressions at the end of the phrases - I thought those can only be succesfully adopted by Eugene Burger's imaginable twin brother. One can also recognize Mr. Burger's influence in the heavy scripting.

Not all the tricks were for me, to be honest. Magicians often claim that magic happens in the audience's mind, but in reality magic all too often happens in the magician's mind when we convince ourselves of evoking some unbelievable sense of wonder. I feel, for the polite lay audience, the only plausible explanation of the "Simple gift" trick is the actual one. The trick of the "Rabbi Magician" just made no sense to me - a cheesy cheesy background music with a cheesy cheesy story (which, if true, gives little credit to its protagonists) just made me raise an eyebrow. A rabbi? Magician? Why magician? Couple of jumbo cards? Wtf? As a member of the lay audience I would probably think the huge cards have some sliding door or something, and end of the story. I wouldn't have been able to connect all the dots together into a coherent "wow" experience. (I know this has nothing to do with "jewishness" - a similar "Pope Magician" trick would puzzle me just the same). I would also seriously contest the idea Mr. Hass brought forward, that a magical story alone can compete with the experience of an unexplainable magical effect. Yes, Rene Lavand uses story telling to enhance his magic - but hey, what an actor, what a story teller he is!? Who can match that?! The story alone by itself won't do - again, open to debate.

All this would be enough to subtract at least one star, leaving the score at 4 stars.

BUT.

When the acted character of the "philosopher magician" was giving way to what I perceived to be the real Larry Hass - an ongoing energetic individual with sharp mind - the lecture was becoming very dynamic and interesting and most enjoyable. The ideas were indeed brilliant and thought-provoking. Also, several of the effects he presented were just impossibly good. The real Larry Hass moments and several of the effects he presented deserve 6 stars. Rounding them up with the 4 stars, I give it 5 stars and I would definitely recommend it.