ScholarGentleman
Jul 2021
This was a good show, and the kids had a good time. Both Mr. Mortimer and his assistant, Ms. Sparks, have great stage presence and move well. This works well in the small theater, and I suspect would also translate well to larger venues. This really shows in his floating wand act, which takes a very old trick and makes it entertaining thanks to his own movement, as did his work with the diabolo. Overall, this was a charming, small show, but I am a bit surprised by the rating here on TripAdvisor.
Part of that is that the show came up short. First, there were a pair of drops in one act, which really break the flow and illusion, and a flubbed sleight early in the show, where a dropped "prediction" was clear to the audience. I am not the sort of audience member trying to guess how tricks are done--I want to be tricked--but that's hard in these cases. Perhaps this was just rough edges. I'm not sure how long they have been "up" since the pandemic.
I have to say that's also true when the set seems designed to reveal the trick. When he stands in front of a prominent seam in the backdrop, or when black-painted supports are clearly visible mid-theater, it feels like a show that needs significantly more polish.
And a number of the elements in the short show really felt like they dragged, despite it being fairly short (70 min) overall. This was particularly true of some of the mentalist pieces. Xavier generally doesn't feel as comfortable with his interactions with people in the audience. In short, the craft was lacking, there just isn't enough here, I think, to sustain a full show.
I don't want to be overly critical. As I said, on the elements he hits on, it's quite solid. And both he and "Belle" are charming, and that saves quite a bit. And I will admit that I haven't seen a lot of magic in Vegas--or in general. I did see David Copperfield perform on Broadway when I was a kid, and I'm now kicking myself for not bringing my own kids to his show, despite the lackluster reviews. And I spent an evening at the Magic Castle in LA that had my heart in my throat the entire time, with amazing close magic and illusions. There really wasn't a "wow" moment for me in this show. It's definitely an entertaining hour, but I suspect I would have preferred one of the other acts in town.
As an aside, given that there are tables, the Strat is missing out on not doing cocktail table service. Just noting.