Las Vegas Weekly

August 27, 2008 · 12:25 PM

A magician with a mission, Jeff McBride opens first close-up ultra lounge

By Robin Leach

"Magic at the Edge" performance.

Photo: Richard Faverty/Beckett Studios

It's one of the most stunning and incredible illusions you can imagine. Acclaimed magician Jeff McBride rolls up his sleeves to his shoulders to prove there is absolutely nothing there at all. Then hundreds of playing cards individually appear from his fingertips, pour from his mouth and race from his arms and elbows. He then flicks them at Guinness Book of World Records speed so fast they actually bounce off the floor and land perfectly in a pile 30 feet away. It's not just mind-boggling -- it's mind-numbing.

And that’s just one of the absolutely amazing, electrifying feats of high-skill theatrics that Jeff pulls off at his brand new Magic At The Edge show he debuted this past weekend at the Palace Station. He resumes weekly performances tonight.

Jeff’s tour de force shows have won him almost every award possible -- from Magician of the Year to three-time Guinness world record holder for the "fastest hands in the world" for his playing card shooting spree. For the past two years he’s been touring the world but he’s no stranger to the Strip, having headlined at the Golden Nugget and the Hilton and opening for Diana Ross at Caesars. "I’m thrilled to return home to the magic capital of the world," he said.

Remarkably, in this day of wanting value for money, not only is the $49 price of admission really reasonable, but it also entitles you to free entry back into the SoundTrax Showroom, which he converts after the 90-minute production into Vegas’ first magic ultra lounge, Wonderground -- complete with street magic, parlor magic, genius close-up sleight-of-hand magic, a psychic sideshow and celebrity interaction with magic’s biggest names! Go grab a quick bite in The Broiler or the Irish Pub while waiting for the magical transformation from theater to night circus. Already the unique experience has become a quiet hit. Vegas has more magicians per square mile than any other city in the world and now at weekends you’ll know where to find them all entertaining visitors and themselves!

Jeff is known as the "masked magician" because of his unique ability to "frame his face" in the fastest on-stage changes ever performed.

I sat down with Jeff after his show and we chatted about his new show and his unique approach to magic:

Robin Leach: Let’s talk about the theater of magic. Your show is different because this is really theater. Is that your intention?

Jeff McBride: Well, magic is a very theatrical art form. The father of modern magic, Robert Houdan -- Houdini took his name from his, and he said a magician is an actor playing the part of a great magician. I have always taken that to heart and what makes my show unique is all of the other theatrical disciplines I combine with the illusion. I learned a long time ago that some people don’t like magic because of the puzzle aspect of it and the more I could wrap it in theater, in Kabuki theater that I studied in Japan, melding it with the martial arts disciplines, working pantomimes, the masks. All of this combined makes it stand out from any other show.

RL: How many masks do you go through in one night?

JM: I think I have the world’s largest mask collection and I think we will have it on display during Halloween. I guess you will have to come and count, dozens in the show.

RL: Where did they all come from?

JM: I make them by hand, many of them, and others I pick up on my world tours. I have been to 47 countries in the world and if there is a mask culture I try to pick up a mask.

RL: You are "the professor," a master genius teacher to a lot of other magicians; you are here with your own show in Vegas, why did you decide to go public in Vegas?

JM: I started 21 years ago in Vegas at Caesars Palace as Diana Ross’s opening act and Steve Wynn saw me and he took me to the Golden Nugget. This was in the 80s and then I had my fill of Vegas, so I explored other countries.

RL: Did the magic change because of Asia and India?

JM: By traveling around the world I got to immerse myself in cultures and I could exchange magic with some of the most exotic magicians in the world, something I couldn’t do here in Vegas. Traveling the world for 35 years, it was all of those countries that influenced my magic.

RL: What do you teach other magicians who are headliners?

JM: When Hans Klok had his show he ran into a challenge. He had to take all of the livestock out of his show because Pam had issues with the animals, so he had to come up with a manipulative act, so we worked on a sequence with candles, flames and fans. I help magicians. I am called a show doctor. I look at a show and I can clean up a show, the same way Johnny Thompson helps me, I help other magicians. I have a good eye; I can help them work on all of that.

RL: The record of the fastest hands in the world, just how fast are your hands?

JM: The Guinness representative came out to my studio and I could shoot two cards a second, 120 cards per minute, and that was the fastest.

RL: I saw Ricky Jay slice a watermelon with a deck of 52 cards; when you performed with your cards tonight how many did you use.

JM: I go through thousands of decks per year. I don’t think Rick ever went for a record. That wasn’t important to him. He has a comedic, intellectual style to him. We have been friends for many years and still when we get together, we go back and forth.

RL: So what we saw tonight is something you have to do daily?

JM: Magic is about practice for me, I perform as a bonus, but I practice all of the time. If you see the card experts here at Wonderground, they have cards in their hands most of the time. It keeps the fingers limber and supple. The more I practice I get a second better than the next guy. I am wishing for a pack of cards right now.

RL: How do you describe the show?

JM: This is a theatrical stage magic show. The International Magicians Society just awarded us best show of 2008 and it is a stage show with my company. We do interactive magic, then a 75-minute show -- it is a journey through time, it has historical magic, at the end we turn it into a nightclub with some close-up magicians.

RL: A first for Vegas.

JM: This is a first for Vegas. Vegas has never had a real home dedicated to close-up magic. Tonight at Wonderground we have Eugene Burger from Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle, Luke Jermay, a mentalist from England; he was a consultant on the Criss Angel show, Johnny Thompson and others. It is a place for close-up magic, but the real aficionados of magic like to do this because it takes much more skill and patience to do close-up magic.

RL: What is the favorite part of the show to you?

JM: My favorite part is playing with the audience. I like to make people a part of the show. It keeps it alive and fresh. They don’t expect that I mingle in the audience doing magic right in front of their eyes. I try every 15 minutes to get off stage and go into the audience. A lot of magic shows, unfortunately, have gotten away from that.

RL: If you were an audience member, what is the one thing you would walk away from this saying, "wow"?

JM: The people talk about the cards and the water balls. People remember the intimate moments; they remember the more delicate pieces of the show.

RL: What is the skill of what you do?

JM: Being able to rely on a physical instrument. I don’t need electricians or engineers or carpenters to do my magic. I can do my magic anywhere. You walk down the street and I can do the magic everywhere. Eugene Burger always said the one that can do the most with the least wins.

RL: Is it difficult to roll your sleeves up to your shoulders and produce hundreds of cards?

JM: I have to roll up my sleeves because people think cards come from sleeves. I have been in Vegas 21 years and this is the place where I can do what I want, when I want. Many magicians are lone wolves; I am a very community-centered person. It is a real magic experience for everyone.

RL: Do you expect Lance, and Siegfried and Roy, and Penn and Teller, Mac King to drop by and hang out?

JM: They will all be here. We are open every Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m. so we’ll host them after their own shows. We’ll have a Lance Burton night. We’ll honor all the casts of the Strip’s magic shows here.

They’ll love entertaining each other -- and they’ll be checking up on each other also!

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