Magic as Medium
Reviewed by Katie Buenneke
Underground Annex at the Hollywood Fringe Festival
Through June 28
RECOMMENDED
Almost every time he does a trick, magician Siegfried Tieber seems as delighted and surprised as the audience is that the trick worked. On anyone else, that reaction could feel disingenuous, but there’s a sense of wholesome naïveté in watching Tieber perform. Watching him do magic strips away the wear and tear of the world and transports you back to your childhood, when it was miraculous to see someone pull a quarter from behind your ear.
But you’re smarter now than you used to be, you’re a grown-up, and Tieber knows this. He doesn’t pander; he knows you’re trying to figure out just how he’s doing it. Sometimes he plays along, explaining what it is he’s about to do, letting you be impressed without trying to impress you in a sleazy way. Sometimes he manages expectations, making it seem like there’s no way he’ll be able to pull the trick off (even though we all know he’s going to do it with aplomb). As often as not, though, he gives the impression that he — and we, the audience — are just a conduit for magic.
He never defines magic, and he never needs to; like God, magic is different things to different people. Indeed, God and magic may be one and the same for some people. There will certainly be skeptics in the audience at any magic show, but I imagine you’d be hard-pressed to find any that aren’t won over by Siegfried Tieber by the end of the performance.
Underground Annex Theatre, 1308 N. Wilton Pl., Hollywood; Sat., Jun. 20, 10 p.m.; Sun., Jun. 22, 5:30 p.m.; Fri., Jun. 28, 9 p.m.; through Jun. 28. https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/6225. Running time: 50 minutes with no intermission.
