“Mister Danny’s Magic in Session” Reviewed by Paul Lisnek

CLASS IS IN SESSION AND SCHOOL HAS NEVER BEEN THIS MUCH FUN!

***** I’ve seen a lot of magicians and I never did very well in my high school science classes. Those may appear to be unrelated points but in the world of Mister Danny’s “Magic in Session” Show at the Chicago Magic Lounge, they are most definitely connected.

Mister Danny is a high school science teacher by day and an award-winning magician by night and the reason his work is acclaimed is because what he does on stage is different from most magicians. I’ve always equated magic with art and skill, but I never really thought about it’s connection to science. And yet, through magic moments I’ve never seen before on stage, Mister Danny makes me wish I was back in high school chemistry. In fact, you leave his theater with a bit of a science cheat sheet to help you learn a bit more even after the show.

Without giving away any secrets (although Mister Danny sometimes lets us know how he does what he does….or does he? Either way, it’s a really a fun rouse because trust me, we can’t do what he does), from his opening optical illusion moment which is more science that magic, we are wowed. And yet what happens, as far as I can tell, was real science and reality based reaction, not magic,  and from that moment, I was hooked!

If you’ve attended many magic shows, then some of his tricks will look familiar to you. Work with a rope (or is it ropes?), playing cards (can anyone really shuffle as perfectly as required by the math and science of it all to make the trick work according to Mister Danny’s scientific calculations?) will at first lead you to say, “I’ve seen this before.” But stick with it. Each one of those tricks takes a turn to be something you have NOT seen before.

And at a few times during the show, Mister Danny lets the audience in on a joke that really does show us how he is doing what he is doing, and simultaneously amazes his audience volunteer who has come up on stage to help. We laugh as does the on-stage volunteer, but for completely different reasons… because we are in on it while the volunteer is not.

If these cryptic descriptions are both enticing and perhaps frustrating you because you want to know more, then I’d suggest you visit the Chicago Magic Lounge on Artist In Residence Headliner Wednesday nights through December 18^th. If you have never been to the Chicago Magic Lounge at 5050 N. Clark Street in Chicago, be sure you arrive by 7pm, have a seat and enjoy about 45 minutes of a variety of magicians (many of whom have been headliners themselves) who visit the tables to perform close up table magic (which was “invented” in Chicago back in the early 1900’s).

Take a look at the menu which has recently been changed and now offers a delicious short rib slider which instantly became my new favorite dish. And then soon, the curtain rises and we….well, we time travel to get things rolling. Why? What’s that all about? Stay until the end and all will be explained! What a fun, and engaging night out.

Chicago Magic Lounge is a jewel in the crown of Chicago’s Magic theaters and Mister Danny is, as we say at WGN, truly one of Chicago’s Very Own….and I for one am proud to be able to say that of him.

Class is back in session folks, and this former really poor science student is now excited to get back in class. And my teacher, Mister Danny? HE gets an “A” and certainly the Teacher of the Year award!

To order tickets call 312-366-4500 or www.chicagomagiclounge.com

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Mister Danny’s Magic in Session”

Paul M. Lisnek, J.D., Ph.D.

WGN-TV Political Analyst

Anchor, “WGN-TV Political Report”

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Host, “Paul Lisnek Behind the Curtain” WGN Radio Podcast