T H E A T E R
THE ILLUSIONISTS
You Won’t Believe Your Eyes
a 95-year old grandfather, gothic teens,
married couples and everyone in between
Jeff Hobson
JOAN MARCUS
The number one question asked of magicians is, “How did
you do that?” Jeff Hobson, aka The Trickster, has a simple
answer, “Very well.”
Hobson is a familiar face to those who visit Las Vegas, as he
is one of the seven most incredible illusionists on earth and
stars there in The Illusionists – Witness The Impossible. The show
will be at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts
in Tampa from May 26th through the 31st.
Like a prestidigitation version of the Justice League, the
magicians execute their “super” powers under the goose
bump-inducing sobriquets of The Manipulator, The Anti-Conjurer,
The Escapologist, The Inventor, The Warrior and The Futurist.
It’s rock star magic that is hilarious, breathtaking and death
defying, all at the same time.
Part dandy, part reprobate, part wide-eyed innocent, Hobson
has an elastic face and an infectious high-voltage energy that
a show that can be viewed
simultaneously by a five-year old,
seems to burst forth from every one of his limbs. His nimble
fingers and lightening fast comedic repartee draw an audience
in, and that is when Hobson says, “The Trickster will get you
every time.” Hobson, who says he “puts the poof in magic,”
loves to bring unsuspecting audience members on stage to assist
him with hilarious results. He is as likely to shuffle a deck of
cards with his tongue as with his hands.
A regular on the Las Vegas Strip for more than 15 years, Hobson
attributes his love of magic to an early encounter with law
enforcement. “When I was in grade school a police officer
visited my class to perform magic with a safety message. I was
dumbstruck. He performed a trick whereby a handkerchief
disappeared and reappeared between two other handkerchiefs
that were tied together in a knot. I told my classmates, ‘I’m
going to do that when I grow up.’ Well, I was almost right,
except that I never grew up.”
MARCH/APRIL 2015 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 89