I have two words for you when it comes to this show: Must. See.
Sure, you’ve seen magicians make things disappear or find the playing card an audience member hid. But until you’ve experienced magic up close and personal, you haven’t seen magic.
Intimate, funny, poignant, and mind-boggling (as in you don’t know what just happened), Dennis Watkins of the Magic Parlour delivers a performance that will leave you reeling, scratching your head, and desperately wishing for more. There are no screens, no hidden cameras, no quick cuts that make you think you somehow missed the action. This is live, people, right in front of your very eyes and you are fooled anyway! And by fooled, I mean that in a good way.
Dennis opens the show explaining how he learned magic from his grandfather at a very early age, and in a Rockwellian manner made it his life’s passion and profession. After wishing that your grandfather had taught you magic, you as an audience member (one of only 40, mind you) become so engrossed you feel like a kid again, bathed in the wonderment and delight that was your normal state until it was drilled into your head otherwise. This sense of enchantment is exactly what Dennis Watkins wants to reintroduce you to. He tells you upfront you will be charmed, you will be beguiled, and you will be hoodwinked. No matter what the outcome (always in Dennis’ favor, by the way), you will leave this 75-minute show with a lighter step and a joyous heart.
Dennis has charmed audiences for 7 seasons (this being his 8th) at the historic and majestic Palmer House Chicago. A small audience is preferred although I’m sure he could fill the Chicago theater. He may not have fooled Penn and Teller, but they bowed to him with the respect and dignity deserved of this master magician and showman. Reservations are required, and the shows sell out fast.
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