[NEohioPAL] Review of "Beyond Belief" at Kennedy's Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Mild mannered mentalist provides alternative entertainment

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the Times papers 2/10/11

 

Many of us, in our youth, begged our parents to buy us a "Mr. Magic" starter kit.  It came complete with an incoherent instructor's manual, a few plastic props and an order form for the "Mr. Magic" advanced edition.

 

Some of us performed basic sleight of hand, elementary mind-reading and fundamental feats of illusion during family gatherings and pretty much left it at that.

 

A few mastered the magic, developed their skills and dexterity, and got beat up on the school playground for randomly pulling a card out of someone's ear or prognosticating with the wrong  person and without permission.

 

It is the rare amateur who turns what was a hobby for them and a general annoyance for others into a profession.

 

One such certified mystery entertainer is Joshua Seth, who performs between 100 -150 shows each year at colleges, corporate events and on cruise ships.

 

His one-man Beyond Belief: An Intimate Evening of Psychological Illusion was performed last Thursday at Kennedy's Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.  It will be reappearing-as if by magic-on March 3 and again on March 24.

 

It is safe to say that magicians, mentalists and illusionists have not turned the corner in popularity since the playground days.

 

In fact, the intimate crawlspace below the Ohio Theatre that is Kennedy's filled less than half its 100 seat capacity.  Upstairs, a show-style marching band extravaganza called Drumline was packing them in.  Down the hall, at the Palace Theatre, the national tour of South Pacific was playing to a near-sold out crowd.  Down the road, CSU men's basketball team pulled 4,500 fans.   

 

The small house for Beyond Belief was unfortunate, for Joshua Seth's stylized sorcery makes for a very entertaining evening.  

 

There are no bells or whistles associated with Beyond Belief, just a man and his magic on a slightly tattered stage lit by bulbs on the verge of a brownout.  Like his surroundings, Joshua Seth is unassuming.  He's a soft spoken, affable fellow in a dark suit who shows no signs of anything remotely mystical, mysterious or Vegas.

 

Early in his act he specifically dismisses any use of machinery, mysticism or telepathy.  Instead, he employs a combination of basic psychology, developed intuition, hypnotic influence and persuasion techniques.  Yes, he's a mild mannered mentalist with more method than magic in his performance.  Nonetheless, what he does is mystifying.     

 

His 65 minute performance starts small and relatively unimpressive, beginning with repeatedly picking (correctly) what hand someone is holding a marble.  This progresses to guessing the card and suit different people pull from a deck, to identifying the names of random audience members' pets, to figuring out their home addresses and their most significant others by simply staring them down.

 

The highlight of the evening is when various audience members contribute a piece of a made up story-a location, key people, a date when the story takes place-which Joshua Seth writes down.  When the story is complete he asks an audience member to read it out loud while reaching into his pocket.  He pulls out a sealed envelope that contains a story he wrote before the show.  It is read out loud by the same audience member and it contains the same details.  Exactly.

 

OK, no one sings "Bali Ha'i," serenades on a bass drum or slam dunks in Beyond Belief.  But none of those other entertainments picks your brain clean and has you trying to figure out how it was done on the way home.  Time to pull out that old "Mr. Magic" starter kit and find the instructor's manual.

 

Beyond Belief returns on March 3 and 24 at Kennedy's Theatre in downtown Cleveland.  For tickets, which are $39.50, call 216-241-6000 or visit www.playhousesquare.com.

 
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