Magic shows are a theater trend on par with IP parody musicals, stand-up comedy plays, multi-performance staged readings, etceteras.

And yet, despite this proliferation of all things magical across New York stages, I’ve yet to see one that satiates this curiosity:

I’d love to watch a production chock-full of theatrically-spectacular tricks from different historical eras of magic, utilizing ONLY technology available to the practitioners at those times. 

Whether the magician decides to peel back the curtain on how this tech actually operates…their choice. 

I can’t do all the conceptual work for you here.

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And yet, as Lou Wall: Breaking the Fifth Wall reminded SoHo Playhouse audiences, never fully trust the veracity of anyone’s professed truth, especially performers. 

Which means: even if the magician claims the tricks employ only historically-accurate technology…should we believe them?

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Speaking of an audience’s relationship to magic and believability…

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t made me realize how movie-magic saps magic of a fundamental element. In person, I find myself trying to figure out how the hell they’re pulling off the tricks before my very eyes. But on screen, movie-magic explains all of that away, forcing the tricks to compensate in other ways. 

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Cities grant tax breaks to film shoots, in hopes that the movie will advertise the metropolis’ appeal to a global audience of possible tourists. 

But like…can we try to hide this nakedly commercial fact, as opposed to establishing-shot montages (stock footage? AI?) that look like what could be playing on TVs inside a travel agency?

Also, HOW THE CAMERA FRAMES THESE LOCALES ACTUALLY MATTERS (tourists want to be in places that look cool…which means the looks matter).