It’s billed From Las Vegas to Skow Vegas — The Magic of V and will take place Friday and Saturday night at the East Madison Grange hall.
“V” is Bill Von Tobel, a Skowhegan native who studied drama at the University of Maine at Farmington and went off to work for Universal Studios theme park and resort in Orlando, Fla., where he had a show called “A Little Night Magic.”
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Von Tobel, 44, recently moved to Las Vegas, where he is opening a magic night club, The Vault Theater. The show is Top Secrets Magic Experience.
Home visiting family, Von Tobel decided to ply his sleight of hand technique for the locals. Shows include mentalism and what is called close magic, using digital projection for slight of hand tricks.
“Close up magic is a lot different than what people think of when they see David Copperfield and Siegfried & Roy,” Von Tobel said. “It’s a lot more intimate, using natural props rather than these weird boxes and all that stuff.”
The problem with close up magic is not everybody can see it, Von Tobel said.
“So what we designed was this magic system, a magic bar system that has a big screen TV over it and a high definition camera,” he said.
The shows Friday and Saturday will be stripped down unplugged versions of the Las Vegas act, but still with close-up magic and overhead projection and a viewing screen. Von Tobel said he expects about 50 people each night. Those who donate at the show to the Somerset County Humane Society will get a discount.
Von Tobel said much of the magic that he will perform this weekend will be the magic classics.
“I have a couple tricks of my own invention that no one’s ever seen before that they’ll only see at my show. I have a section that’s about mentalism, the appearance of being able to read people’s minds,” he said. “I also talk about how there are certain people who claim to be psychic, but actually use the methods that magicians use and I expose a couple of these.”
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter: @Doug_Harlow
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