2008-5 Brett Daniel's Wohscigam

Yesterday I saw Brett Daniels' Wohscigam at the Sahara. I was very disappointed in the show. I even gave up a day of my training for to see that show.
First I was able to get a ticket for half price so it was about $25 and then I was sat off of stage left on the far left. After I got to the theater I saw that they were handing out free tickets to anyone who just happened to be walking by. They were sitting in the center section too. I paid and got stuck on the side while the freebies were given a better seat. After the show started I moved over to a better place.

It appeared that it was a dress rehearsal and needed a lot more time. Many obvious mistakes and mis-cues.

As far as the show concept. It was very interesting and different. It was narrated by Brett as a true story of a magician, Lester Tiband, just after the turn on the century. The story used many real magicians from the past and a few that were created for the story. About 10 minutes in I figured out where he was going with the story but that in no way would keep someone from enjoying the show if the show were up to par and ready for paying audiences.

The actual performance was more of a close-up / manipulation show with a few large scale illusions as well.
Here is what the performance consisted of...

A very interesting stage set. The curtain was very nice with many magical images and phrases. Two large gargoyles on each side of the stage came to life when the show started. A stand with a large book sat on stage left and a close-up table sat in front the first row on stage left.

Two billowing cloth banners from each corner of the stage towards a point, upstage, center stage. The cloth then disappeared into the center and Brett was floating above the stage a the point of the disappearance. After he descended you could clearly see the gimmick retreating back through the curtain as Brett walked forward to accept his applause.
After the opening he performed some card fans, card manipulation, coin manipulation/coin ladder and then some pocket watch manipulation to multiplying oversize pocket watches. During the card manip he seemed to be having trouble with the cards. It looked like the problem that many card guys say they have when they are visiting humid Florida but this was non-humid Las Vegas.

A coin matrix effect was next that led to a version of Silver Odyssey with the gimmick built at different places across the table top. It was nice but their were a few moments that were a little off.
This led to a coins through table routine using a glass window that was in the center of the table. It looked very magical as each coin passed through the table one at a time. At the end they all passed through at the same time. This effect probably got the most positive audience reaction in the show. It was very good. He followed the coins through table by inviting a child on stage and performing a card through glass with his selected card. The finale was that the card was trapped between two panes of glass and stuck in inside. It was removed and given to the child along with a souvenir poster that we could all purchase in the lobby after the show. More on the poster later.
Twisting the aces was next with a change to all queens at the end.

His next effect happened on the close-up table down in the house on stage left. He spread a deck across the table and had it signed by a spectator across the entire spread. After shuffling until the spectator said stop he re-spread the cards to show that the name was now mixed, juts like the cards. After a few more shuffles and being told to stop again he spread the cards out and showed that the name was now back the way it started. During all the shuffling he had been showing the faces by spreading the deck, face up, across the table. After the name had been shown back the way it started he spread the cards face up one more time and the name of Lester Tiband was now written across the faces.
His cups and balls was interesting but it also suffered from the dress rehearsal look. It started with a wood carving a a 3-dimensional cups and balls from a single piece of wood. He placed it to the side and performed his routine using peanuts that eventually changed into the regular crotchet balls we all recognize. After a few standard C & B moves he ended with a potato under each cup as the final load with one more load, a handful of peanuts, under the center cup. After it was over he passed a cloth over the cups and picked it up and brought it down to the front row to show that it was now a solid piece of carved wood.
Levitation - A cloth was held from his hands down the platform. After removing the cloth the female assistant was now floating in front of him. It seemed like he was talking her through the routine since his lips were moving but he wasn't making any noise since his mic was off. This was something I noticed throughout the performance.
Brett forced a card, badly, on a woman from the audience. He was caught but he had no choice but to use the card he wanted to use so he played it off and had it signed and used the force card anyway. It had to be the card used since it had to match later in the show. This was all for his torn & restored card routine. During the restore it was obvious that he was ditching the pieces of torn card because they were clearly seen falling from his hand as he was opening the restored card.

Gypsy thread was next using two colors of thread that were eventually restored to an alternating two color thread.

A ball manipulation routine was next. It ended with multiplying balls.
The Hand Thing - Remember the book on the stand I mentioned earlier? Brett turned to a page in the book and used a jumbo card to slice through his hand which remained on the table. The hand then rearranged the letters on the page to form the name of someone in the story that was being told. As he reattached his hand it appeared that he as having trouble. Even the kid sitting next to me said to his mom, "He screwed it up!"

A zombie routine was next. It used a ball the reminded me of an armillary sphere.
His final effect, read false ending, was a disappearance from the stage with a reappearance in the audience. After some applause he asked if we wanted to see one more.
After a lackluster response he proceeded to his actual finale, the appearance of a large carriage led by four carousel horses. It was big but I don't know how many people were fooled by it since then stage was obviously used for producing and hiding things throughout the show. It wouldn't be a huge leap to assume that the carriage was hiding under the stage which it was.The stage itself was actually sitting on top of the actual stage. I guess that it was made to be able to sit in any theater to make it easier to perform without too much retooling of the show.

A few additional notes...
On at least two occasions I noticed that he was talking to the light tech to let him know that it was time to darken the stage or change the lighting.
His on stage assistant was obviously someone provided by the theater and she was still learning.
About 6 groups of people left during the show. They were kind enough to wait until Brett had left the stage for a costume change so he wouldn't see them.
When the show was over I expected to see him in the lobby signing the posters that he had given to the child during the show. We were filed out of the theater into a bar area that was around the corner from the theater entrance. Some people were looking to see if Brett was doing a meet and greet but he was nowhere to be found. Eventually his assistant came around the corner and looked perplexed since we were not where we were expected to be. I didn't see any sign of a meet and greet or merchandise table anywhere. I could only think that it was canceled because we were let out of the wrong theater door everyone proceeded to leave the area or that it was never going to happen but it was part of the script and he forget to take it out.
I would have better spent my time going out with the rest of the team I am here with. I have seen Brett in the past and was very impressed and the magic periodicals have raved over this show.
http://www.wohscigam.com/PressPage.html
At least I only lost $25 but I don't think I would be happy even if the ticket was free.

So far this week I have seen Cirque du Soleil's KA, Brett Daniels' Wohscigam, Toxic Audio & later I am seeing Cirque du Soleil's O. You won't have to think too hard to figure out which show is at that bottom of my list.

That's all for now. If I can think of something else I will add it later.

JoeV