REVIEW: ‘Speakeasy Magick’ is transportive entertainment
Photo: Todd Robbins is the host of Speakeasy Magick at the McKittrick Hotel. Photo courtesy of Stevan Keane / Provided by DKC O&M with permission.
NEW YORK — The McKittrick Hotel, home to the still-popular Sleep No More immersive experience, has expanded many of its theatrical and culinary offerings over the years. They produced a well-received run of the haunting ghost play The Woman in Black, and they are regularly throwing holiday bashes for everything from Halloween to New Year’s Eve.
One of the longtime tenants of the McKittrick is an up-close magic show known as Speakeasy Magick. The magical mayhem takes place at the hotel’s Club Car venue, which is a delightfully apportioned theater space made to look like a 100-year-old speakeasy. The booze flows from a side bar, the smoke penetrates every corner, and there’s a skilled pianist offering some early jazz tunes while people mill around. A scrumptious bag of popcorn awaits each patron as they find their seats for the promised personal prestidigitation.
The emcee for the evening is the renowned magician Todd Robbins, an expert on all things macabre and slightly oddball. His style of illusion is that of a devilish charmer, someone who can hold the audience’s attention with a mere smirk or raised eyebrow. He begins the night by explaining how Speakeasy Magick works: Over the course of two hours, a traveling troupe of close-up, sleight-of-hand magicians will circulate the room and offer their mysterious art form to the patrons at each table. There are several rounds that run 15-20 minutes in length, and for that time span, it’s only a few audience members at each table being wowed by the magical skills of this motley variety of performers.
In between the rounds of magic, Robbins will take to the microphone and focus the evening once more, offering his unique brand of curious humor and mysterious pontificating. A couple of the magicians will also ascend the small stage and offer a brief routine for everyone to enjoy. Everything moves wonderfully well over the two-hour evening, with a definite rhythm to the magic, to the alcohol and to the transportive feeling of being in a tucked-away corner of New York City.
[Check out Hollywood Soapbox’s previous coverage of Todd Robbins’ magical offerings.]
This version of Speakeasy Magick is slightly larger than the initial incarnation of the sleight-of-hand show, which was previously housed at a different venue in the McKittrick. The transition has not changed any of the intimacy. This is almost as intimate as one can get with the magical arts, and each of the performers are exquisite.
Which illusionists one experiences up close depends on where one’s seated. Everyone will experience the same level of magic, but it’s the luck of the draw on which magician will sit down at the table. At a recent evening performance, the five magicians at this reviewer’s table consisted of Matthew Holtzclaw, Patrick Davis, Mark Calabrese, Alex Boyce and Matias Letelier. They were individually wondrous, each representing different styles and exhibiting unique skills.
Take, for example, Calabrese, who is a magician with an aggressive, in-one’s-face humor. His magic is unparalleled and unexplainable, and his fast talking, pointing at each patron, remembering everyone’s names, and amazing art of making cards appear and disappear were a true highlight. He’s one of the best.
Holtzclaw is a bit quieter than Calabrese, but no less stunning. His routine instantly has audience members scratching their heads and covering their gaping mouths. At this recent performance, he was also one fo the ensemble performers who offered some of his magic on the stage for the entire audience to enjoy. Boyce, too, is an impressive illusionist, someone whose act seemingly defies the laws of physics. His brief stage show, featuring the time-honored tradition of working with white doves, just about instigated a standing ovation.
Speakeasy Magick, which often sells out and is currently on sale through the end of January, works so well because the McKittrick goes all-in on the ambiance and atmosphere. This is not merely a smattering of tables with a few chairs and a magician with some tricks up their sleeve. This is an immersive environment in which one steps back in time, probably 100 years to the age of Prohibition, and experiences some illusion is an illusory space that feels almost cinematic in detail.
Speakeasy Magick is magical entertainment that transports audiences to a bygone era of secret boozing, devilish delights and magical mayhem. It’s not to be missed.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Speakeasy Magick, hosted by Todd Robbins, continues at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City. Featuring a rotating cast of magicians, including Matias Letelier, Alex Boyce, Patrick Davis, Matthew Holtzclaw and Mark Calabrese, among others. Running time: 2 hours. Click here for more information and tickets.
