THE ILLUSIONISTS • Magic of the Holidays

While we often talk about the magic of the Christmas holiday, rarely are we presented an opportunity to experience how it actually works in action.   Thankfully, with the upcoming performance of The Illusionists ‘Magic of the Holidays’, families will have an opportunity to experience firsthand a mind-blowing showcase featuring the jaw-dropping talents of the most incredible magicians on earth.

Happening December 12th at Midland Center for the Arts at 7:30 PM, the touring magic production known as The Illusionists features a rotating cast of magicians who each specialize in a special branch of magic, from stage illusions to mind reading to escapology and comedic magic, The Illusionists have shattered box office records across the globe and dazzle audiences of all ages with a powerful mix of the most outrageous and astonishing acts ever witnessed on stage.

In advance of their performance, recently The REVIEW had an opportunity to speak at length with magician Paul Dabek, who started his career in show business when at the age of 4, dressed in top hat and cape, he sold his parents two tickets to his first one-man show held in the family’s living room.

While his costume may have changed since then, his love for the art form has not waned and to date he is widely regarded as one of the funniest magicians on the planet, having performed across 6 continents, from Broadway and London’s West End to the Las Vegas strip for celebrities, royalty and many fortune 500 companies. 

An accomplished magician, comedian and actor Paul's skills have won him massive critical acclaim, Time Out magazine named him 'a superb showman!’ and The Times of London described his performance as ‘simply stunning.’ Paul has performed in sold-out seasons on both London’s West End and Broadway stages as the host of The Illusionists; and most recently he was a member of the creation and opening cast of Cirque du Soleil’s latest Las Vegas hit-show show Mad Apple appearing at legendary New York New York Hotel and Casino for over 100 shows.

Although The Illusionists first debuted in Sydney Australia in January of 2021 and have been together nearly 11 years now, how did Paul first get involved with the production? 

“I actually joined the show in 2017,” he relates. “I had performed at the Fringe Festival in the U.K. which is a huge art festival and think they were scouting performers over there. “I was a late joiner, but that was my first introduction to the show and I’ve been with them ever since.”

“The Illusionists originally started as a co-production with the Sydney Opera House in Australia and planned to run for a season with everybody moving on to the next project after its run; but it really took off and has never looked back - apart from a couple of world incidents that slowed thing down a bit, the touring has been pretty solid.”

When asked how he became interested in his own particular branch of magic and managed to evolve it to the professional level he enjoys today, Paul says he’s been at is since the age of four. “That’s when I started playing around with it and putting on shows; but started working semi-professionally because I was in school but getting paid to do it in my early teens. By the age of 16 I was a full-time magician and have been full time for 20 years now earning my living as a magician, actor, and entertainer.”

“What drew me to The Illusionists is that I’d seen the show and a lot of my friends and heroes in magic had performed in it. What also drew me is the same thing that draws audiences: Variety and the world of Variety entertainment never went away, it just morphed into America’s Got Talent and things like that.:

“It’s a tried & trusted formula that is basically a Variety show only everything about it involves Magic,” he continues. “The great thing is that rather than see the same style of magic, we have all these different branches of magic that entertain and appeal to such a wide range of age groups," he notes. “To me that’s the genius of a show like this. Friends will ask me, ‘Can I bring a date to this show?’ And I tell them to bring a date, or their kids, or their grandparents, or go on your own because everything about it is ageless - it moves so quickly that if something is not to your taste, before you know it we’re on to the next thing.  Magic has a universal appeal and at the core of it is this sense of history and mystery and wonder."

Regarding the time, commitment, and focus it takes to become adept at what he does as a professional magician, does Paul have to constantly practice and develop fresh and new routines in order to evolve his craft?

“In the early days it was really a labor of love,” he explains. “If you’re a musician you have to work on all the things that the audience see, but if you’re a magician you have to work on all the things the audience doesn’t see. A musician might make it look effortless but you can still see something tangible at the core of it because the hard work is only display. With magic a lot of the hard work done with our job is not on display and you have to spend time on all that backroom stuff while also learning to become an entertainer and a performer.”

“Nowadays, being on tour constantly with The illusionists, it’s not like I have a lot of time to practice, so being on stage is my practice. I don’t liken myself to an athlete too much, but when I’m on tour it keeps things fresh and sharp. However, when I’m off tour creating new material or work-shopping, that’s another story. I spent two months holed up in Vegas working on effects for this show, so it’s a labor of love.”

When asked about influences who helped informed his own sensibilities as a magician and entertainer whose goal is to engage and mesmerize audiences, Dabek points out that while a lot of them may be obscure to the general public, there are several big-hitters.  “Penn & Teller definitely influenced me and back in the UK it would be Paul Daniels and another who’s on TV a lot and became a friend & mentor named Wayne Dobson, whom I owe an awful lot to. Because I do a lot of comedy in the show another major hero of mine is Robin Williams and people like that who can peel back their skull and let people inside, which takes a special talent.”

As for the biggest challenge involved with this juncture of his career, Dabek references the nature of Vaudeville itself, which has always served as a traditional breeding ground for perfecting the timeless talents of magicians throughout the ages. 

“Magic get both a great rap and a bad rap,” he reflects. “It’s often monikers and tropes that people immediately think about like the rabbit in the hat and all of that, which sometimes can feel dated; but can also sometimes be indulged in a manner that can feel very magical and nostalgic.  Trying to stay up-to-date and move ahead of the times is the biggest challenge - creating a modern version of an older school style of humor. I grew up with that fast-paced style of humor, which compliments what I’m striving for very well.”

“Fortunately, we have a very devoted crew that have to get up at 5 in the morning off the tour bus, put all the staging and rigging together, only to rip it apart and get on the bus by 11 pm to do it all again the next day, so everybody involved with this show has their own set of challenges.”

“Coming from the UK, one thing I love about America is the beautiful great theaters operating here,” adds Paul. “It seems we go to towns I’ve never heard of and they’ve all got a beautiful 2000 seat theatre built in the 1920s, especially on the East Coast.  Today we’re playing a sports  arena and the crew are throwing up staging and building up a theatre on a blank canvas, so for some of the other magicians in the show, that’s their challenge - making adjustments to their act depending upon the layout.  My style is more hit-and-run and more stylistic or presentational - designed to keep you on your toes.”

So what can people expect who come to catch The Illusionists live?

“If you’ve been to one of our shows before you now they are fast packed and quick moving and will leave you feeling like a kid again,” concludes Kabek. “Because this is a holiday show it will definitely leave you with a warm and festive glow for the holiday period.  We have a great cast, some incredible magic, and a lot of humor.”

“I’ve said this many times before: we live in a world with all sorts of things going on outside our doorstep, but that need for all of us to just disengage and feel like a kid again - no matter how old you are - technology and information are so readily available to us, but that need of feeling a sense of wonder and not being able to explain something is a niche that rarely gets filled these days.”

The Illusionists • Magic of the Holidays takes place on Monday, December 12th at 7:30 PM in the Auditorium at Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews.  Tickets start at only $25.50 and can be purchased by clicking here.