We live in a world of
instant knowledge. Wikopedia is on hand to tell you the origins of St Patrick’s
Day and IMDB can tell you exactly where you’ve seen that actor that’s been
tormenting you with her familiarity in the latest episode of The Good Wife.
There’s very little mystery left in the world, very little need to lie awake at
night pondering the universe or, in my case, exactly how a fax machine works.
Since the invention of the internet, there’s been an absence of unanswered
questions rattling around this brain.
Unless you count
magic. Magic is truly one of the last remaining areas of mystery and an area I
refuse to research, or try to “figure out”, lest the wonder fade. I love the
“how did they do that?” and am quick to shut my husband up if he starts to
explain it.
A few months ago I saw
the Band Of Magicians: Four best-mate magician friends, each specialising in
his own “brand” of magic, brought together by Aussie magician James
Galea. I still remember how it felt to be glued to my seat, am still shaking my
head in disbelief, and yes, months later I am still talking about
that show.
The show was fun and
dynamic, the magic truly wondrous. I wish I had thought to take some young
friends of mine who are thrilled by magic and are always keen to share their
card tricks with me so I can ooh and ahh accordingly. If I had taken them with
me I would have gone to the top of their “favourite people list” with a bullet
for the show was amazing.
It was great to see
James do his famous card tricks, including “673 King St”, the one that earned
him over 3 million views on YouTube when he made an appearance at the Melbourne
International Comedy Festival in 2009. For those of you unfamiliar with
James’ work, here is the link to that clip. I am positive that I have convinced
almost everyone I know to watch this clip after seeing it live, so here you go
– do yourself a favour and watch.
I wasn’t familiar
with the remaining members of the Band of Magicians, but I am keen to see them
again whenever possible. Justin Flom, Justin William and Nate Staniforth were
the perfect accompaniment to James, making them an impressive magician boy band
(who in typical boy band style, weren’t hard on the eyes either!). Unlike
magicians of old, with their secrecy and air of superiority, these guys were
down to earth, filled with good humor and audience participation was high. I
laughed lots, was stunned into silence (no mean feat), and now rate Band of
Magicians as one of the best shows I have ever been to.
In the hope that these
guys grace our shores again, I will not talk about their show in detail other
than to say that I still catch myself thinking about their magic. It’s a show I
will always remember, and now that I follow them on Instagram, Facebook and
Twitter, I intend to be first in the know and first in line for tickets the next
time ’round.
Photos courtesy of
Band of Magicians Facebook page.
