Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – True to his stage name, EL MAGO POP’s exuberant, narrative-light trickery pops wonderfully on the Broadway stage

• By drediman
• August 21, 2023
• No Comments

Last night, the European sensation El Mago Pop opened his show on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. For the uninitiated, “El Mago Pop” is the stage name of one Antonio Díaz, a lithe and boyishly charismatic 37-year-old illusionist from Spain who is making his debut on the Great White Way with this two-week engagement.

Over the years, I’ve seen a number of illusionists take on stages big and small (performers like Derren Brown, Penn & Teller, The Illusionists, Asi Wind, and Derek DelGaudio come to mind). In the process, it’s been interesting to see how these talented performers have framed their trickery, particularly from a theatrical storytelling perspective. In a refreshing change of pace, Díaz eschews existential musings, putting on a youthful and exuberant show that only lightly engages in any sort of narrative (these are largely handled through elaborate video interludes between magic tricks). Indeed, with a running time of under 90 minutes (sans intermission), there’s a breathless, almost “best of” quality to the show that makes it perfectly breezy late summer fare that – true to Díaz’s stage name – pops wonderfully on the Broadway stage.

As young as Díaz is, his repertoire of tricks is extraordinarily broad, making for a regularly awe-inspiring spectacle involving anything from “simple” card tricks to more elaborate illusions involving levitation and teleportation. Perhaps the most eye-popping of the lot involve the astonishing appearance of a full-size helicopter onstage (not the first time that’s been accomplished on Broadway!) and the head-spinning transformation of a Rubik’s Cube into an explosion of candy.

RECOMMENDED

EL MAGO POP
Special Event
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 27