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Review: Murray's magic marvels the masses

An Incredible Evening of magic lives up to its name
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Illusionists Murray Hatfield and Teresa dazzle with amazing magic at the Victoria Conference Centre Theatre.

When I went to the Victoria Conference Centre theatre last Saturday night for An Incredible Evening of Magic with Murray Hatfield and Teresa, I expected to see some slight of hand and some smoke and mirrors. I wasn’t sure if these two local illusionists would be any good and I guess I was expecting something more hokey than hocus pocus.

What I didn’t expect was to leave the theatre with a sore face — my jaw really got a workout from the shocking illusions these two entertainers pulled off. And he’s pretty funny, too.

An Incredible Evening of Magic is an exciting show that dazzles, and I mean dazzles, with Teresa being swallowed by a giant disco ball in the first trick. After Murray inserts three metal rods into it, leaving no possible space for Teresa — and lighting it on fire — out she comes, fully intact and ready to be cut into quarters, mixed around and put back together again.

The graceful Teresa is successful at distracting the audience with her twirls and high-kicks as Hatfield makes the magic happen upstage.

Hatfield engages the audience, not only during the cocktail hour just before the show and during the 20-minute intermission with close-up magic and card tricks, but with his ability to make strangers seem comfortable being pulled from the crowd and into the limelight. Some of the tricks he performs with the audience’s help are the most unbelievable and astonishing of the show.

The audience gasped as a woman, whose mind Hatfield was trying to read by guessing what type of animal cracker she pulled from the box, was startled when the “giraffe” Hatfield drew suddenly grew a neck, right before their eyes.

Eleven-year-old Kirsten floated horizontally three feet in the air when the two step ladders she was laying across were removed. Hatfield even ran a hoop over and around her body to show she wasn’t attached to anything.

Hatfield chose the best of the duo’s illusions, which they tour extensively around the world in places like Australia, Japan, Mexico, Israel and Singapore, to treat the local audience. They were even named Canada’s 2006 Magicians of the Year by the prestigious Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Hatfield chose a selection of heart-warming stories to tell, that helped the audience understand how he got his start in magic and how much it means to him.

It’s obvious the owners of Murray’s Trick and Joke Shop on Broughton Street are much more than that — they are world-class magicians who, lucky for us, call Victoria home. They deserve a packed house for every show. Treat your family to this mind-blowing all-ages show before it disappears.

Join Murray Hatfield and his partner, Teresa, for An Incredible Evening of Magic at the Victoria Conference Centre theatre (720 Douglas) Saturday July 23, or Fridays, July 29, Aug. 5, 12 or 19. Tickets are $25 for adults and $18.75 for children under 16.

Tickets are available at the Royal McPherson Box office at rmts.bc.ca, by phone at 250-386-6121, or in person at Murray’s Trick and Joke Shop at 688 Broughton. M