[rating=5] Dennis Watkins is a Chicago “treasure”! For many years, we have been amazed by the work he does. As an actor with his amazing portrayal of Houdini , and of course for his Magic Parlour ( if you check back you will see my review of this show with my grandson, Adam, at the Palmer House) Show, up close and personal! With Covid-19, came closing of live performances and thus the magician had no place to make magic.
Watkins must make magic! This is who he is, so ZOOM came into the picture and he began to put together a virtual version of the Palmer House show, but without having the audience on premise. How can one bring magic to people from his home, to theirs?
Tonight, Jane and I participated ( oh yes, the audience does participate) on Zoom along with people from all over the country. Some of the audience members were celebrating birthdays and Watkins involved quite a few in the unique magical tricks performed. I was a participant in the previous review as was Adam, I was trying to figure out just how Dennis could get the audience involved in his one hour plus experience, and when the show was over had to say, he is a master magician and a great worker of miracles. They were all involved!
After joining the zoom and getting our sound adjustment, we waited until Dennis was ready to go. Part of the show was a video where he explained the way that zoom functioned so that we would all know what to do should he call on us to participate.
The show began at 8:04 and lasted until 9:13 ( I coud have watched another hour with no problem), and was fully packed with great feats. Card tricks were among the most and we also got a tour of his home studio. While we saw Dennis in suit coat and tie, when he toured, we saw he as wearing PJ bottoms and slippers. What the heck- he was home!
Watkins is a third generation “artist” and we learn a great deal about his mentor and teacher, his grandfather during this session.
In the very beginning he asked for random numbers from the crowd, Later, he pulled out an envelope that had a lottery ticket that he had purchased last March ( pre-Covid). The numbers on the lottery ticket were in fact the random numbers that the crowd yelled out! Amazing!
He did a number of close-up card tricks and then moved on to his ESP with Ryan & Mindy ( celebrating a birthday). He had her google wikkepedia and advised us of the number of words one might find on this app. He then had her find a story, scroll down to a word, and then tell us the word, which he had written down on a board. Powerful stuff!
He then moved on to Erica and Will in Champaign and had them match six cards with symbols of ESP. They had options to change what they felt was right, changed zero and had all of them correct. This was his tribute to Uri Geller ( this young couple had no idea who Geller was. After all, that was eons ago ( he of the spoon bending mind games).
Next he showed us a block of wood with an 8″ spike in it. his was placed in a brown paper bag. He also had three additional bags, BUT these only contained the block of wood part. Joey and Newdge told him which bag to smash straight down on with his hand. One wrong pick and sleight-of-hand would become very difficult. NO PROBLEM!
He then did a routine with Rauel and Roberta from Salem Oregon where they played with numbered envelopes changing the order several times. When they were all done switching, he opened each and took out cards that had letters on them. One at a time, they spelled out “you are magic”. He then had us take out OUR deck of cards ( we were instructed to have a deck with us) and take out 4 cards. We did many shuffles and changes never seeing the faces of the cards. We then tore them in half, took the top card of the left hand pile, again not looking at the card, and place it in our pocket. We then did a series of shuffles again and moving cards to a story where we would toss a card ( half card to be precise). When we were left with one half, we reached in our pocket for the half there and put them together, turning them over and voila- we had the whole card. AWESOME!
His final trick was one that once again involved his Grandfather and involved a little box that he was left. I must tell you that when Lois told him her card and he had a deck of cards IN the box that had her name on it I saw just how magical Dennis Watkins is and how lucky to have him in our area. But the beauty of this particular production is that no matter where you live, if you have a computer and internet ( and a deck of cards) you can be part of the magic as well.
The show is scheduled to continue thru February 27th with performances as follows:
Fridays 8 p.m.
Saturdays 8 p.m.
EXTENDED SCHEDULE
- Friday, March 5 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, March 6 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, March 12 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, March 13 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, March 19 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, March 26 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, March 27 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, April 2 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, April 3 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, April 9 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, April 10 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, April 16 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, April 17 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, April 23 at 8 p.m. CST
- Saturday, April 24 at 8 p.m. CST
- Friday, April 30 at 8 p.m. CST
Tickets are $49 ( $65 on special dates) and can be purchased online at www.themagicparlourchicago.com. Only 30 tickets will be sold per performance and the beauty of zoom is that the ticket is per household/group.
The show is recommended for ages 10 and up but under 18 MUST be accompanied by an adult. To enjoy as one would at The Palmer House, I suggest at least casual dress ( like you are going out). Drinking is suggested as long as you are home and not driving and bring a deck of cards to the show.
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at” The Magic Parlour at Home”
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