Come one, come all
A new diverse lineup is in the cards for Liberty Magic
For its next trick, Liberty Magic will further diversify its 2019-20 lineup.
“One of the things I really love about this subscription series we have coming up is, we’ve worked really hard to tell a story over the course of the entire season,” said Scott Shiller, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s vice president for artistic planning.
“We went about finding magicians who have different genres and different styles of magic, so everything from a little more traditional to comedy, to Robert Ramirez, who is song and dance, Anna DeGuzman, who is bringing ‘cardistry,’ and then we have Zabrecky, who brings something a little different, a little something odd.”
The Trust held a press event Tuesday morning, with demonstrations from various magicians who will be returning for their own residencies.
The first two artists after Liberty Magic’s February opening — Eric Jones and Lee Terbosic — often sold out the intimate, 66-seat theater. Currently starring there is Billy Kidd, who brings her “Bridging the Gap” show from her base outside of London.
DeGuzman, dressed in a striped jumpsuit and black leather jacket Tuesday, defied gravity as she flipped playing cards. Guests shot iPhone videos and tried to guess how it was done. In another space, Ramirez juggled cigar boxes.
“Magic is cool again,” he said, explaining how social media, YouTube and sites such as Reddit make it possible to witness an astonishing array, from sleight of hand to the big illusions.
“You can see all these weird things you would never get to see, like sand sculptures. … Magic is similar. You see it online and you think, ‘Where’s a place I could go see that?’ So I think Scott here is doing a great thing; you can see it at Liberty Magic.”
The six residencies feature two levels of ticket pricing. “Skeleton Key VIP” season subscriptions feature the show, the best seats and a postshow gathering to see a bit more magic backstage. Tickets for Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday performances are $330. Friday and Saturday are $390.
General admission prices for the series are $210 and $240 respectively. More information is at trustarts.org/ magic.
The 2019-20 lineup begins with an evening of “sophisticated tomfoolery,” promised by Chicago third-generation magician Dennis Watkins, who helped kick off the media announcement for Liberty Magic last year. He’s been doing his show, “The Magic Parlour,” at the historic Palmer House Hilton hotel for more than eight years.
Watkins combines magic, mentalism and cardistry in a throwback turn-of-the-century manner and is an artistic adviser to Liberty Magic. That’s his Harry Houdini water torture cell in the window (Sept. 11- 29).
• Pittsburgh’s Lee Terbosic returns to Liberty Magic with a new show that’s an homage to Houdini. To mark a centennial anniversary, the Baldwin High School graduate once replicated Houdini’s straitjacket escape while hanging over a Downtown intersection, just as Houdini did here in 1916.
For this Liberty Magic show, Terbosic has created a 75-minute show that’s part lecture, part Q&A and, of course, a lot of magic, all of it “The Life and Death of Harry Houdini” (Oct. 23-Nov. 3).
• Ramirez sings, dances and plays the ukulele. He’s a musical theater actor who starred in a national tour of “In the Heights.” He’s also a renowned magician who’s been on “Penn and Teller: Fool Us” and National Geographic’s “Mind Games.”
Expect costume changes, iPhone magic and possibly a disappearing piano (Nov. 27Jan. 5).
• It’s not every day Liberty Magic gets a performer who was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Derek Hughes, the “Stand Up Magician,” has appeared in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” as well as “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and is a consulting producer on truTV’s “The Carbonaro Effect.” Hughes also was a finalist on season 10 of “America’s Got Talent.”
Pittsburgh audiences get to see Hughes — whose stage magic was deemed tops by International Brotherhood of Magicians — close up (Jan. 8-Feb. 16).
• The “Queen of Cardistry,” DeGuzman is not only a card wizard but also one of the country’s biggest magic influencers on social media. A rising star who has performed at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, she has appeared on “Penn and Teller: Fool Us” (Feb. 19-March 29).
• Zabrecky’s “A Little Something Different” promises just that. A two-time “Stage Magician of the Year” winner, among other honors, he combines dark humor with mentalism and storytelling. His television appearances include “Penn and Teller: Fool Us” as well as “CSI: NY,” “Strange Angel” and “Glow” (April 1May 10).