Milwaukee

JUSTIN WILLMAN: ONE FOR THE AGES

☆☆☆☆

How much magic makes a magic show… a magic show? What percentage of focus on sleight of hand, trickery, or carefully designed deceit is enough to say, ‘this is a Magic Show’? At this publication, we will review even the tiniest amount, eager to engage with every performance that even touches the world of magic. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a topic worth pondering. Justin Willman is, undeniably, a magician. In his show One For the Ages, you will find all the comfortable classics you yearn for – cards to pick from, a thing turned into another thing, a word plucked from the very recesses of your mind. If you’re looking for originality in your magic, this is not the place. But the focus of One For The Ages seems a bit different. It seems magic tricks may be the skeleton, but humanity the filling.

Willman radiates openness (ironic for a magician) and down-to-earthness. His banter with the audience is eagerly received because for a lack of a better word, it is simply so normal. Willman is a working magician with a Netflix show and multiple appearances on daytime televison. Show attendees can be sure that every word he says and every breath he takes have been rehearsed down to the second. But he still manages to make it not feel that way. He makes every joke feel organic, and weaves his storytelling so languorously that you legitimately forget to expect the magic trick that comes at the end of it.

If this is an impressive skill to witness, it is not his only one. Willman’s sleight of hand is cleanly done and his show designed with enough variety to stay interesting, while still focusing around a few central moments that set a good pace for the night. Even more impressive is his – skill? luck? with audience participants. Perhaps Milwaukee is just a city teeming with character, and Willman had a 100% chance of getting a star as he brought multiple people on the stage to take part on long effects. But experience does not back that up, and more likely the culprit is just his practiced hand at setting participants up to succeed. The two main participants at the show reviewed were darn near show stealers in their own right, particularly a young lady who may have skewed a little too close to curiously skeptical for Willman’s taste in the end.

While the show was certainly designed to be completely family friendly and was clearly mostly intended for the under 18 set, it still full of tongue in check risque jokes to keep the elders entertained. Willman also wisely includes nods to Milwaukee’s favourite magic son (he was here for a few years in his young adulthood! That’s close enough!), Harry Houdini. And ranging from extensive audience interaction, literally running around the venue, and just exuberant clownishness, Willman’s show really does encompass enough to keep anyone entertained.

THE OPTICAL DELUSIONS

☆☆☆☆

Performing in the Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee was a homecoming show for magician Ben Seidman and juggler Marcus Monroe, who both come from and began their best friendship in the area. And truly they received a fitting welcome home from the crowd, who filled up the entire hall and seemed to feature a lot of family and friends of the two performers. But although they had the overwhelming support of their community, they far from need it to make The Optical Delusions a success. This show positively vibrates with infectious enthusiasm- for the skillful juggling and tricky magic demonstrated, and for the best friendship of Seidman and Monroe.

The Optical Delusions experienced by the crowd in Milwaukee must have been a unique experience from the rest of the tour, because it was absolutely teeming with Milwaukee and general Midwestern humor. Seidman and Monroe were overtly delighted to be among the only people who could appreciate this content, and so even seen through the eyes of a transplant to the area, every joke hit purely on the strength of their energy.

It’s impressive that two men the same age from the same area have both done so well in the variety performance world, although in different subsets of it. Magic and juggling make sense together if you squint and don’t think too hard about it, and it helps that so many performers who do one have also tried their hand at the other. But they really do require different talents even beyond just doing them – how to present the skills, how to interact with the audience while they do, and so on. And what is startling is how very, and equally, good Seidman and Monroe are in their respective arts.

Monroe is demonstrably aware that if you can juggle you can’t just juggle, that would get boring after a while. But juggling with a few smart jokes, a lot of endearingly dumb jokes, and a solid assist of audience involvement, turns his admirable skill into a show well worth watching. Seidman is a magician who should be paid a lot more attention to on a national or even international level. His attitude and showmanship are impeccably crafted, and he has found a way to make nearly every trick in his repertoire seem brand new and completely fresh- an almost impossible feat in such an old art.

Seidman and Monroe are at their best when they’re working together, a beautiful thing to be able to say about two ‘best friends’. It’s absolutely obvious that their partnership in this show isn’t just a gimmick; they have amazing chemistry that could only come from knowing, supporting, and building each other’s acts up for years. For the beginning, end, and flashes in between throughout The Optical Delusions, the two trade banter crackling with energy and experience, and play ‘straight man’, or the other way around, to the one who’s turn it is to do his bit. The construction of the show genuinely only falters when one is left alone on the stage. This is not to say either performer could not carry a one man show- they both could, and do outside The Optical Delusions. But the energy of this particular show changes too drastically when they aren’t both contributing, and it makes for a somewhat fractured experience. Fortunately, they’re back together in peak form by the finale, and blow any memories of lagging out of the audience’s minds. 

The Optical Delusions is a delightful show where the hilarious comedy almost distracts you from how good the magic and juggling actually are (but not quite).  And as an added bonus, it’ll make you really appreciate your best friend.

 

 

More information on Ben Seidman and Marcus Monroe and their future performance dates can be found here and here.