Magic is something that can be a hard sell. Whether it be up close with cards or gigantic spectacle, it appeals to a certain audience. The crowd for “Razor Blades, Rituals, and Rumors” seemed to be enjoying what was happening but I struggled with many aspects of the show – mostly my inability to hear the performers.
These types of performances are very niche. They rely on distraction while something else happens on a different part of the stage. The glue that binds this process together? Timing and performance. Although their tricks were astounding and sometimes beyond my comprehension, I felt the crowd wasn’t taken along for the story of the trick. For instance, they mentioned a haunted house and two slates that they showed us that were indeed blank, they placed a piece of chalk between them and then opened the slates to find two words written upon them. While that was impressive, the specific timing left me more confused than anything.
Overall, the lack of showmanship and conversational tone of the presenters undermined the impressive tricks on display. The magic is fun but I was so focused on trying to hear and understand what was being said that I couldn’t fully enjoy the mysteries being presented. Small changes like punching up the style of presentation and using a full stage voice could really take this show to the next level.
