Like magic, 'Illusionists' star turned into a New Yorker

IN MAGIC, the act of turning an object into a completely different thing is known as "transformation." But recently, it was conjurer Jeff Hobson who was altered in a significant way.

Hobson is one of seven wizards who on Tuesday begin a six-day, eight-performance run in "The Illusionists" at the Academy of Music. They're on a national tour, following a successful end-of-2014 Broadway run. According to the veteran entertainer, his time in the Big Apple made him see the city in an entirely new light.

"Initially, I couldn't stand New York City for more than 24 hours," he admitted, during a recent phone conversation. "It's too much, too many people," he said, adding that he agreed with his interrogator's description of the city as "relentless."

"I didn't know if I could stand [a six-week stay]. And you know what? After a couple weeks, I became a New Yorker. It sort of grows on you. You realize, 'Hey, I'm hungry, and I have my pajamas on, so I'm gonna walk across the street and get a croissant.' It's almost like you can do anything there at any time. And talk about a 'melting pot.' "

Not that Hobson - who was an Atlantic City casino regular in the 1990s, when magic shows were nearly as ubiquitous as slot machines - ever envisioned himself performing on the Great White Way.

"I didn't know that Broadway was supposed to be on my bucket list," he said. "You just don't think a magician's going to be on Broadway, even though, in previous years, David Copperfield did a show, and Doug Henning did a show. Normally, you think magicians work birthday parties, and if you're really good, you work Vegas, which I did for 15 years. But I never thought Broadway was part of it.

"It snuck up on me. The producer said, 'Let's do this show. What do you think?' 'Sure, it sounds like a good idea.' Next thing you know, we're travelling across Europe, we're doing the best theaters in Germany and Hungary and England, and a television special in London. And [then] we're on Broadway. It sort of snuck up on me."

Hobson's particular shtick-in-trade is delivering his illusions with a heaping helping of silly (but hilarious) humor. Which, not surprisingly, is why he has been dubbed "The Trickster" in the program's marketing campaign. He's joined by "The Manipulator" (Yu Ho-Jin); "The Anti-Conjuror" (Dan Sperry); "The Escapologist," (Andrew Basso); "The Inventor" (Kevin James, not the comedian); "The Warrior" (Aaron Crow); and "The Futurist" (Adam Trent).

Each brings to the stage a specialty. Basso, for instance, recreates Harry Houdini's legendary escape from a water-filled chamber while trussed up in a straight jacket. And Sperry is provocatively described as a cross between Copperfield and Goth-rocker Marilyn Manson.

All, insisted Hobson, are helping keep alive the magical arts, especially among younger people who get so much of their entertainment on mobile devices.

"Magic's one of the very few performing arts that as much as you can watch it on television or see it on the Internet, you cannot duplicate that live performance," he reasoned.

"Magic has to be experienced in front of your very eyes. It has to be experienced first-hand."

Playwright Samuel D. Hunter's "The Whale" is populated with characters who live on the side of the spectrum that runs from "flawed" to "reprehensible." But the two-hour (sans intermission) play currently making its Philly debut through March 8 at Theatre Exile's Studio X courses with humanity - in all its unseemliness - and somehow emerges victorious despite the work's unforgiving bleakness.

Metaphorically speaking, "The Whale" is Charlie, a dying gay man whose morbid obesity stems from the demise of his lover, who was driven to self-destruction by the Mormon church - specifically a sermon delivered by the man's father.

Charlie's existence is literally a hell-on-earth. A captive of his 600-pound weight and the congestive heart failure that makes the most simple physical acts difficult, if not impossible, Charlie's only goal is to reconcile with his long-estranged teenage daughter who suddenly has re-entered his life.

It takes some 90 minutes for Hunter to get to his main point - that honesty is the only human virtue of any value - but thanks to the remarkable five-person cast, the wait for the payoff is worth it.

Local-stage mainstay Scott Greer is a Barrymore Award nominee shoo-in. Performing in a "fat suit" and wheezing with virtually every breath, Greer puts on an acting clinic. You really feel the suffering - physical and emotional - people in that condition endure. He is matched every step of the way by Campbell O'Hare as Ellie, the daughter whose anger issues make Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver" look like Mary Poppins. O'Hare is so toxic that when her mother, Mary (Amanda Grove), says "Oh, shut up, Ellie," you will likely fight the urge to stand up and cheer.

Rounding out the ensemble are Trevor William Fayle as the 19-year-old Mormon church "elder" (missionary) with his own problems who stumbles into Charlie's life, and Kate Czajkowski as Liz, a nurse and Charlie's only real friend.

Under the taut direction of Matt Pfeiffer, Theatre Exile's associate artistic director, the five actors knock it out of the park.