Part Two of P&T at Wolftrap, Fairfax, VA. 7/12/95

 All caveats still apply where it comes to spoilers ... in other words, if you plan on seeing them, DON'T READ THIS. See 'em first, and read this later and compare. I keep my reviews on disk, and will be happy to e-mail to you later. All rights reserved. Do not fold, spindle or mutilate. Elvis has left the building. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball. You know the drill....

 Okay -- intermission lasted about 15 minutes, and the show resumed at the delightfully humid outdoor Filene Center at 9:45 pm. There was a cheer from some members of the audience when they saw what was onstage: "Liftoff To Love", and yes, despite being on the cover of GENII magazine (affiliated with the Magic Castle), they still say "this is the one that got us kicked out..."

 Oh -- for the record, the only magicians who Penn took potshots at were Siegfried & Roy ("torturing large animals") and of course, David Copperfield, which came right at the start of "Liftoff" as Penn yells, "Suck on this, Copperfield!" right before they do the clear plastic version. Sorry -- no free dinner from Lance Burton...

 (Additional cheap shot recalled -- when Penn has the .357 Magnum for the bullet catch, he looks around and says, "Where's Patrick Swayze when you need him?")

 Teller proceeds with the signature "East Indian Needle Mystery," which, thank Cthulu, I've seen about nine times before, because in a big place like Wolftrap, without benefit of monitors, it loses a lot. It still gets more applause than almost anything in the show, and should make anyone currently doing the effect stick it in the drawer and say, "I think I'll try something else, thank you..."

 Next is "Bible Darts," which allows Penn to get in his licks at Kreskin and Uri Geller and the assorted "newage" who refuse to call themselves magicians. When it comes to writing, this is another bit that is inspired (Penn noting that the dartboard is actaully painted on the "broadside of a barn" after various and sundry children make lame attempts at hitting it from five yards away) and hilarious. The blackboard is a good touch, as it keeps audiences from losing track, as we all know Dai Vernon's famous quote, "Confusion is not magic."

 The only problem here is that "Bible Darts" has been in the show for so long that Penn tends to rip through what he's saying so fast that it gets hard to tell what he's saying, and a lot of the asides get lost in the ambient noise. I realize Penn talks fast normally, but even though I'd seen the effect before (Lyric Opera House, Baltimore, 1991; National Theatre, Washington DC, 1989), I still couldn't make out what he was saying, and I dare say the guy doing the sign language might have had a problem as well....

 "Shadows" came next, where Teller cuts the leaves and the petals off the rose. My fiancee & partner-in-magic feels this is and has been the best number they do ("He" actually), and the look on Teller's face as he smears the blood across the paper is eerily priceless. Anyone who feels there is no "acting" required in magic should see this one, repeatedly, and learn something.

 The closer was the new "Bleeding", where they take off all their clothes for some "sleight-of-hand", including their underwear while standing behind a large black plastic tarp. (The look on the faces of the audience members brought on stage at this point is worth the price of admission!) They then move to a large clear plastic riser and produce various items while clad only in large coverall t-shirts. After a while, the items (and them) gush "blood", and in closing, they don red satin top hats, which pour blood down their faces and shirts. I felt this could be stronger, maybe with some sort of final large geyser of blood or something. I hear they're still working on it.

 As usual, they run to the back of the audience, and sign autographs, give bloody hand-and-other-part prints on programs and have photos taken. (Personal aside: "Nyaah, nyahh!" to the woman who did the "rabbit ears" with her fingers behind Teller's head in the photos we had of ourselves taken with Teller at the Smithsonian lecture. She was the one who leapt up into Penn's arms for a big bloody hug after the Wolftrap show)

 As I said earlier, I am "biased" toward P&T more than any other artist that I've seen, for the simple reason that P&T is THEATRE! Copperfield is magic as "rock concert," except it's not really live, it's Memorex. The variety and the unpredictability is almost totally removed from the show.

 McBride is visually stunning, and moves a mile a minute. It is themed impressively, and he takes many old effects and works them into the show in new ways that work, as opposed to being "forced." It too, is theatre, but being the skeptic that I am, enough of McBride's personal philosophy comes through that it is almost "magic as shamanism." Reginald Scot was trying to _keep_ magicians from getting hanged and burned in the 1500s by moving the art _away_ from religion. In these times, with a world full of jihads, fundamentalists, book burners and Pat Buchanans, it seems to me to make no sense to move magic back in the other direction. McBride apparently doesn't think so...

 I wish I could see more of Samelson -- he is another proponent of "magic as theatre." In my opinion, the more we realize that magic is still an art for grown-ups (with no aspersions cast on kids-show magicians -- I used to be one myself), the more we need it to progress by recognizing the need for drama, pacing, showmanship, originiality and conscious thought. That's what Robert-Houdin felt, and that's the way P&T do it. If we quit humiliating the audience with bra tricks and sucker gags, we help push magic to the forefront of a world in need of better entertainment than "Baywatch."

Television is the natural enemy of magic. TV is TV -- magic is _live_ entertainment, where no performance should be exactly the same twice (sorry, Copperfield). That's why I can see P&T again and again. And be more amazed each time.

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