The Fourth Walsh

North America’s biggest illusion show, CHAMPIONS OF MAGIC, comes to Chicago for the summer.

Do you believe in magic? CHAMPIONS OF MAGIC are ready to solidify or trick you into questioning that belief.

The CHAMPIONS is 15 people. Four magicians, Richard Young, Sam Strange, Liberty Larsen and Fernando Velasco plus eleven crew. These magician assistants work hand-held cameras, buckle straitjackets, and catch batons of fire to keep the show ever-moving. Driving this multi-media, high-voltage, family-friendly, interactive spectacle is Young & Strange.They are two blokes from England that have been perfecting their act since childhood. The charismatic Young introduces the acts as the impish Strange flickers green and red lights.

The duo utilize volunteers to showcase their large disappearing acts or intimate close-up magic. A child vanishes from a box or coins multiply in someone’s hand. Each feat, big or small, delights and entices the audience. Young & Strange themselves keep disappearing and reappearing in unimaginable and precarious places. They even show a hilarious clip of their first national television broadcast. These guys know how to  have fun. Even their names, Young & Strange, elude to charming and playful. And they are!            

Weaved into the show, Liberty Larsen’s segments are more storytelling illusion. Liberty takes a kid on a journey to find a stolen crown. Later, she reveals her own past as a fourth-generation magician of the Larsen family, the creators of the Magic Castle, an elusive magician membership club. Her bits are more interesting than fascinating as she shares photos and stories of the Magic Castle. It’s a gentler contrast to the Young & Strange whirlwind.

Fernando Velasco is the fourth performer. Velasco, a Houdini-like escape artist, is suspended upside-down wearing a straitjacket. He must break free from the strappings before the flaming, oversize bear trap clamps shut. Later, Velasco will walk across the stage several feet above the ground on a laser beam. The death-defying stunts are thrilling and mesmerizing.

One More Time! The four magicians combine talents in a finale of pulsing music, multiple illusions and confetti for days. They egg the audience on with shouts of ‘One More Time!’ The send-off is a captivating showcase of wit and wizardry.

CHAMPIONS OF MAGIC is an evening of laughs, gasps, and “How did they do that?” Bring your sense of wonder and your capacity for fun to be thoroughly entertained by the CHAMPIONS. This high-energy romp is part illusion, part comedy and all pure magic! This is where reality takes a night off.

One More Time!

Running Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes includes an intermission

At Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan

Performances are:

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30pm

Fridays and Saturdays at 2pm

Sundays at 1pm

Thru August 23

For more information or tickets

Production photos by Ricardo Hererra and Mikey Rogers

For more Chicago theatre information and reviews, please visit Theatre in Chicago