I’ve been a fan of the magician Dendy ever since Round House’s 2022 The Tempest. His portrayal of Ariel as a card-sharping fey made the production sing (figuratively – the folk-rock songs of Tom Waits provided the sound track), and magic designed by Teller combined for a transcendent experience of theater.
Now Dendy has collaborated with Round House’s Aaron Posner to present a one-man play of equal parts autobiography and wonderment. Is magic just a system of lying to your audience and having them like it? Or are illusions a metaphysical meditation on existence?
While waiting for the show to begin, you can watch a slide show of quotes about magic. Look! There’s one from Terry Pratchett! Not known as a magician, except with words.
Dendy has been practicing magic since the first set of tricks he received as a present at age three. When he was six, he dared to show his father the first trick he thought was good enough – and never looked back. We, the current audience, are treated to a reenactment of that stage of his life, as he performed tricks at parties, but, most of all, as he built an identity around “I’m a magician” as a defense against “growing up gay,…with a big forehead and tiny ears.”
Soon enough, he had a gig in what passed for a fancy restaurant in small-town Missouri, “Le Orange Elegante,” livening up the staid establishment with card tricks.
His vocation was settled when he performed a trick to cheer up a stranger in a cafe. Afterward, he found out that she was Harry Houdini’s niece.
A series of tricks with audience participation followed. One of them involved appearing and disappearing balls, climaxing with the conjuring of a couple of oranges out of thin air. The volunteer couple who assisted with the trick got to keep the oranges.
Is there a theme here? No. No more food-related tricks in the show, if you don’t count the two involving regurgitation of non-food objects. The trick involving needles is viscerally involving.
The reception after the opening night performance featured Ryan Rilette, Round House’s artistic director, giving Dendy an amazingly thoughtful present: one of the cards which a famous 19th-century magician used to fling into the audience as part of his show, to keep as souvenirs. Dendy was gobsmacked.
Round House’s specialty cocktail program continues with clever custom drinks for this production. Among them:
The White Rabbit, Abracadabra, Penn and Teller Paloma, and The Houdini Appletini.
Also, a Zero Proof tipple called Pick a Card.
Nothing Up My Sleeve: Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans, by Aaron Posner and Dendy, magic by Dendy, directed by Aaron Posner, is playing at Round House through March 15.