Press

Magician Farrell Dillon Makes Jillian Disappear

Los Angeles - On Tuesday Magician Farrell Dillon from "Masters of Illusion" performed a few of his amazing tricks for us live on GDLA... Watch as he makes Jillian disappear and puts Dorothy through the guillotine.

Publication: The Slate A&E

November 15, 2011

theslateonline.com/ae

Magic happens at SU with the masters

Grimaldo Berrios - Staff Photographer

Shippensburg University hosted the Masters of Illusion Live! at the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center last weekend.

Based on the award-winning television series, "Masters of Illusion: Impossible Magic, "Masters of Illusion Live! came to SU by storm and delivered a non-stop magical entertainmen. With live performances that were once only seen on television, this was a performance of a lifetime.

There were no camera ticks and no computer-generated graphics. Just simply an in-your-face live performance that brought the art of stage illusion to the audience.

With mesmerizing levitation, disappearing and appearing acts, the audience definitely went home with an exclusive memorable moment.

Magic is magic regardless of how one puts it, but one key element that made this show incredible was the interaction that the performers had with the audience.

Imagine seeing a little girl's eyes light up becasue she did a magic trck, or even imagine being hand-picked to star in one's own magic show that included a beautiful assistant. This is what the show was all about - being able to witness the power of magic.

The show enchanted the audience with its comedy. Laughters after laughter was all one heard, and as the show progressed, the level of laughter increased.

Audience members know that magic is supposed to leave them with a mesmerized look, but it should also give them a sense of happiness.

Buy most impressively was the way the show captivated the audience through its theatrical performance. 

Here the audience witnessed, as Darren Romeo would say, "Magic mees theater."

With its star-studded performance, Masters of Illusion Live! took the audience on a roller coaster ride that never ended. There is no doubt that these illusions were not possible without its theatrical aspect. 

But none the less, Masters of Illusion Live! amazed, amazed and amazed.

Publication: Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Arts & Entertainment

Magic of the night: the stupefying Masters of Illusion

Posted by Cristin Cotton on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 11:02 AM

Sultry, stunning and spellbinding are spot-on adjectives in describing Masters of Illusion Live!, a show that captured audiences Nov. 28 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

Trickery seldom knocks the senses defenseless, but nothing trumps the experience of seeing a live show, complete with exotic animals, beautiful dancers, escapologists, comedy magic, quick change artists, mentalists, sleight of hand artists and more, all spun into one huge extravaganza. This stage version of the award-winning television series Masters of Illusion Live! includes audience participation, adding to both the suspense and excitement.

While magic isn’t real (or, is it?), Masters of Illusion certainly sucks both science and logic dry. With no help from camera tricks or computer graphics — just astonishing illusions leaving you asking “How did they DO that?”

Among others, the astounding cast of 25 includes award-winning husband-and-wife team, Mark Kalin and Jinger Leigh. Pulling off an assortment of large-scale acts, their most impressive trip was set in what looked like hell and climaxed with a “floating” Leigh.

Leigh had been led to a throne-like seat where she proceeded to sit and roll her eyes back as if summoning “the other side”. While in the seated position, she began to float upward, leaving the chair behind and twirling her fingers around an adjacent pole to prove she was not holding herself up, all the while accomplishing what seemed like — impossible magic.

Performer Joaquin Ayala had audiences holding their breath during his performance Blades of Doom. Although Ayala had little stage time and left the audience gasping in amazement. Ayala’s contraption of choice integrated two rapidly rotating blades, complete with fire and a bolted box inside which he would later fit himself. After it became clear that there was no possible way for the magician to escape, a fire erupted under the box and the blades were released. The audience watched as the blades sliced through the box, and at the same time, Ayala magically appeared in back of the audience. An all-around sigh is released, followed by roaring applause. The magician retreated to the stage, leaving a humble bow in his wake.

Other acts incorporated such props as straitjackets, surf boards, and flying paper roses, just to name a few. While fun and suspense were sure to be had, meaning and depth with a nod towards interpersonal relationships were amongst the magic. Following the aftermath of laughs and gasps, a peace-like calm draped the audience as magician Darren Romeo gave homage to the late American stage magician, Harry Blackstone Jr. Romeo, now a professional magician whose style of magic combines vocal performance and illusion, in what is billed as “The Voice of Magic”, embarked on his magical journey after seeing Blackstone perform for the first time at 11-years-old.

Romeo recalled his first encounter with magic. He talked about his imagination awakening insofar that he wrote Blackstone a note on the back of a business card telling the magician that he too wanted to be a famous conjurer one-day.

Eckerd Hall audiences continued to be touched when Romeo called upon Blackstone’s wife, an audience member herself and invited her to stand-up and give a cheerful wave.

After enough pulling at the audience members’ heart strings, Romeo ended the show with a rendition of "The Music of the Night," the legendary ballad from The Phantom of the Opera. The song stands as an invitation into the unknown depths of imagination where one’s mind begins a journey through a strange new world.

 PALM BEACH POST

Remarkable magicians astound at the Kravis

By Howie Grapek   |  Events  |  December 02, 2011

The Masters of Illusion Live! World Tour took the stage and stunned the audience members at the Kravis Center.

Unlike the TV show of the same name which contains very little talking, the performers on stage entertained with magic, sleight of hand, illusions, beautiful dancers, exotic animals, escapologists, card tricks, humor, singing and tons of audience participation. There were no camera tricks or computer graphics to assist with the illusions. Just live, vaudevillian styled entertainment.

The show opened with Kalin and Jinger’s unique performing style with two of their signature illusions “Circle of Fire” and “Fire Spiker”. They continued to wow the guests by choosing a ‘”victim” named Murray from the audience to join them in the “Pole Levi” illusion. They finished their set with “Billiards” and “Barrel”, each of which left everyone asking themselves “How the heck did they do that?!”

Next up was the “Great James” — Kevin James, a favorite on television’s “America’s Got Talent” a couple of seasons back. He is one of the most viewed magicians on YouTube and just completed a command performance for President Obama at the White House. He dominated the show with six segments filled with magic and humor. “Chaplin Trunk” was his first trick, where he turned multiple dummy pieces into a small Charlie Chaplin, which he then levitated. He reached out to the audience looking for a “little girl” to help, whom he selected. For Victoria, he performed his “Floating Rose” trick which consisted of a crumpled napkin that floated and transformed into a red rose. He finished his set with another torn napkin that revealed a flurry of apparent snow. I always love watching James, who mixes comic dialogue with illusion.

What would a magic show be without exotic animals? To the surprise and delight of everyone in the audience, Jinger Leigh transformed a beautiful lady into 2 live white tigers!

After the intermission, Joaquin Ayala and Tanya came onstage and performed an elaborate set of illusions based on Ayala’s nightmares. The most impressive was “Blades of Doom” in which Ayala was placed in a box, then two huge blades of an gigantic saw came spinning into the box cutting it into pieces. Of course, Ayala vanished to appear elsewhere, in the crowd, a fitting close to their set.

Next up was Farrell Dillon. Dillon is a rare honors graduate of the Chavez Studio of Magic, the most prestigious magic school in the world. Through this course Farrell was taught the methods and techniques of the world’s master magicians. On this night, he lived up to his education. He was, by far, the funniest magician to take the stage I’ve seen in years. He started with sleight of hand tricks including his signature performances of “thimbles” and “cards”. The cards appeared to came out of thin air and even from his mouth. He selected a young audience member named Liam to help him on stage. He continued to make Liam (and the audience) laugh while creating balloon animals including difficult to create ones like snakes and worms. He produced a “hot dog” balloon animal and taught it a trick – to play dead. The way he taught this was to stomp on the balloon and pop it. To Liam’s delight, he placed all the popped balloon pieces in a bag and magically had it come back to life. Dillon’s final trick was the “Straight Jacket”, during which he brought another audience member named Eric on stage to help him. Eric inspected and tied Dillon into the jacket. While ‘surfing’ on a homemade contraption, Dillon escaped from the straight jacket while making jokes. In the middle of the escape, a rainbow of thimbles appeared on his hand. He was astounding to even the most jaded in the audience with his fast pace and humor.

The final entertainer to take the stage was Darren Romeo, the “singing magician”. During his set, he performed eight illusions and sang through each of them. He humorously mimicked Willie Nelson, Celine Deon, Diana Ross, Ricky Martin and Louis Armstrong. Just as the other entertainers this evening asked for members of the audience to help, he too, selected a woman named Edie from Idaho to help with his “Crystal Casket” trick.

Romeo’s show-business career began at the age of 9, when he started to perform magic for friends and family. Romeo had first became inspired to learn magic soon after he saw his first live magic show – the touring show of the late Harry Blackstone, Jr., whom he saw at the Westbury Music Fair near his home in Long Island. After the show, Romeo got the chance to meet Blackstone and express his interest in the art. The meeting led to Blackstone giving Romeo his first trained dove, which Darren worked to incorporate into a magic routine. Blackstone died in May 1997. During this evening’s show, Gay Blackstone, the widow of the late Harry Blackstone Jr., stood up and said hello to the audience. Mrs. Blackstone has been the executive producer of “Masters of Illusion” since 2009.

Romeo has worked to carry on the Blackstone legacy featuring the famed magician’s classic illusions. As the final act of the evening, he performed the famous “Floating Light Bulb” illusion.

With humor, imagination and audience participation, it was a show which delighted Kravis guests of all ages.