Seven magicians do the impossible in 'The Illusionists'

Forget the oversize video screens, the thundering music, the light show, and the scores of sexy dancers. What matters to illusionist Andrew Basso, one of the seven headliners in the stage extravaganza The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible, is the intimate connection he develops with the people, usually wide-eyed and open-mouthed, who see him do his thing.

"I love the live audience," Basso said during a recent visit to South Street Magic Shop in Center City. "Magic transmits something to the audience. It gives them an experience and hopefully a life-changing moment."

Basso, 29, who was in town Feb. 14 to perform a solo act at the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention, will return Tuesday as part of The Illusionists, which will be staged at the Academy of Music through Sunday.

Dubbed the Escapologist - he specializes in spectacular Houdini-esque escapes - Basso will be joined by six other tricksters, including Kevin James (The Inventor), Adam Trent (The Futurist), Yu Ho-Jin (The Manipulator) and Aaron Crow (The Warrior).

Basso went pro at 17 with an underwater trick at a local lake that drew 3,000 people. For the show this week, he will perform another water escape: He'll be suspended upside down in a tank of water, his wrists and ankles bound by chains.

Born in a small Italian town near Venice, Basso became entranced with magic at 7, when his parents took him to a local circus.

"It was the smallest circus you can think of. They didn't have tigers, they had sheep and dogs," said Basso said. "But watching these strangely dressed people with unusual skill was, like, 'Wow.' "

Basso describes his mother as strong, severe, serious, and always dressed in black. "She never laughed," he said, "but the magician made her laugh out loud so hard I thought, 'If only I could do that!' "

Basso - who spent some time the morning of the interview rummaging through a nearby hardware store for prop and trick ideas - added, "I realized years later that in that moment I had discovered the power magic has to transform people."

James, 49, also craves that emotional resonance. Asked to define the type of magic he performs, he said in a phone interview that it was "finding some human emotion . . . with each routine." James, who grew up in southern Michigan, added that "I try to listen to the audience. That is the most important thing. To see what they are feeling."

James, a self-described "tinkerer," is known in the industry for his inventions. He designs elaborate tricks and tailor-makes the equipment for himself and a variety of other practitioners, including David Copperfield and Penn and Teller.

He gets his adrenaline fix from the creative process. "You start in a restaurant, tinkering with a concept, and scribble on the back of a napkin," he said. "Then you go to the cardboard [model] tests to see if it can work, then you build it in wood." The performances bring to a fruition a long, rich process. "It's just a magical experience, getting applause for a thing you drew on a napkin."

James dabbles in all types and genres of magic. For this show, he'll use a chainsaw to cut someone in half. "There's no box to hide in. The two separate parts are alive and chase each other around the stage," he said.

He is particularly fond of a routine that has him materialize snowfall inside the entire length of the theater.

"I talk about my first impressions as a child to see snow, and how magical it was," he said, "so I create this huge snowstorm for the audience."

While the portly James comes across as an avuncular, if somewhat off-kilter, scientist, the rail-thin Adam Trent has the air of a New Wave magician, with his thin ties and shiny, retro '80s jackets.

The Boulder, Colo., native began his career at the age of 8 when he saw Copperfield live. "It completely changed my life," Trent, 29, said. "I don't even remember what he did, just that he was great."

An aunt gave Trent a how-to book, and he was off to the races. He went pro in high school.

"I've never had a real job," said Trent in a phone chat. "I put myself through college with magic." Things were tight after school, and he barely made ends meet as a street performer in Los Angeles. "I came close to getting a regular job," he said with mock horror.

Trent, who describes his act as a stand-up comedy show with magic, earned his nickname the Futurist for a series of numbers that employ computer-generated graphics and other space-age tech.

"I paint digital worlds and I interact with them," he said, "skateboard through a city, clone myself across the screen, step through 3D objects."

Echoing Basso and James, Trent added, "I enjoy performing in stuff that remains human, and even this piece, with all its technology, it's a very human piece."

The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible

Through Sunday at the Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.

Tickets: $20-$105.50.

Information: 215-731-3333, www.kimmelcenter.org/broadway.EndText

215-854-2736