Illusionist David Hirata has that black magic thing going on and his costar Dr. Kim Silverman looks like Merlin at the Renaissance Faire. In "Magic Holiday," Hirata and Silverman appear to have the dual purpose of entertaining children (the audience, mostly children, howled with delight) and de-mystifying their tricks somewhat, so their audience can...almost...figure out how they're pulling these cool stunts off.
I mean, how does Hirata get the multicolored scarves out of the cylinder, anyway? How does Silverman get the torn dollar bill into the egg? How does one ball become two balls become three balls?
Kids are called out of the audience to help the magicians and they are the cutest part of the whole afternoon. As for the rest of it, adults will find themselves enjoying the show but they will really love watching their kids lose their collective cool. Whereas Wrapping Paper Caper, which follows Hirata's show on weekend afternoons, can be enjoyed by all ages, David Hirata's Magic Holiday is primarily about entertaining kids. It certainly seems to work.
One note: Occasionally, juggler Stefan Fisher stands in for Dr. Kim Silverman.
RATINGS: ☼ ☼ 1/2 (adults) ☼ ☼ ☼ (kids)
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Magic Holiday" Two and a Half Stars for adults and Three for children. There are no tricks adults haven't seen before but kids don't care about that. The row in front of this reviewer was packed with children who couldn't stop jumping out of their seat to volunteer for every single stunt. You can't get a better review than that.
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"David Hirata and Friends: Magic Holiday
The Marsh
1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Holiday schedule through Dec. 29 (see www.themarsh.org for complete schedule)
$10
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