I’ve never been to a magic show before, and I can’t say that card tricks would be high on my list of priorities. But my friend and I were absolutely blown away by Steve Truglia’s “The Card Shark Show” on Friday.
I don’t quite know what I was expecting as I got off the tube at Green Park and walked to the Royal Institute in Albemarle Street although the irony of being at the home of research science wasn’t lost on me. We collected our tickets – two playing cards – and were shown to our seats in a 300 seat auditorium.
There was a table in the centre with a blue baize cover, a drink and some poker chips. No surprise there. But at 730pm the lights went down and we watched a black and white movie of 1940s American gangsters trading details of a notorious card shark – it was all very intriguing. Then we met Mr Truglia, bedecked in one of those splendid baggy 1940s suits, and with a nod to the difference between using cards for magic and cheating at gambling we were off.
There were many historical lessons as he traced the fascination with card tricks from the earliest witchcraft books, through Caravaggio paintings in the 1600s, through tales of the origin of “dead man’s hand” and Wild Bill Hickok and the Gold Rush in the 1800s and right up to the latest court cases on gambling thefts in Las Vegas. He is truly a master storyteller and we were all bound up in the spells he cast.
And throughout these stories he showed us his skill at sleight of hand – sometimes with help from members of the audience. His mentalist/mind reading display was astonishing – although he puts his considerable skill here down to having studied NLP. He also provided demonstrations of how street con artists use cup and ball tricks and cards to part naïve tourists from their money.
Sometimes the music was violins, sometimes it was harps and sometimes it was very dramatic. It added atmosphere to the awe and wonder we were witnessing. But his relaxed and humorous style made it all feel rather intimate. And the professionally acted and authentic film clips gave the show added interest and pace. In fact, we couldn’t quite believe when the show came to an end – was that really an hour and a half?
I liked that the large screen above him was now put to good use showing us in close detail what he did with those cards. And with his sleeves rolled up we had absolutely no idea how he did what he did. All I can say is that I would happily go and see this show again – astonishing.
http://www.thecardsharkshow.com/ for details of shows (on Friday evenings) during July and August. Tickets range from £25 to £60.
