A thread of Gen X nostalgia runs strongly through British illusionist Jamie Allan’s Amaze, where the walls of the auditorium at New World Stages are lined with posters of ’80s films and screens playing commercials from the era while bygone hits are piped in on the speakers. Allan is a talented illusionist performing close-up card tricks (filmed by an onstage assistant and projected for those sitting in the balcony) as well as splashier illusions like levitating that assistant (and later himself) on the strategically lit stage.
But what makes Amaze stand out is Allan’s magical gift for storytelling, sharing anecdotes from his boyhood interest in magic as the son of two musicians in Britain. We hear about tragic early death of his mother and the relationship he grew with his carpenter dad after her passing. We learn about the mentorship he found in older, experienced members of the British magic scene, including a figured called Cardini. Allan embellishes his anecdotes with props, videos projected on an upstage screen, and tricks that illustrate his personal history in ways that feel organic and never forced.
Allan confides that it took him seven years to master sleight of hand with playing cards well enough for his mentor to share other secrets with him, and you can see how his hard work paid off. I only caught a handful of slips in his close-up work — and was duly astonished by other ways in which he punctured my skepticism with undeniable skill. While his act includes some illusions that fill the stage, Allan seems most comfortable working downstage, where he’s closer to the audience, with items as simple as iPads and Rubik’s cubes. And of course cards. Lots and lots of cards.
He also has an easy-going avuncular rapport with audience members, particularly kids, as he brings them into the act. Allan genuinely seems to relish the fact that he’s living out his boyhood fantasy, which adds resonance to his frequent nods to the Fisher Price magic kit he was gifted as a child and which sits onstage waiting for its big moment in the finale. Amaze is as well-constructed as any autobiographical one-man show you’re likely to see on an Off Broadway stage, and Allan definitely knows how to manipulate a big reveal. ★★★★☆
AMAZE
New World Stages, Off Broadway
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through May 24 for $59 to $265