Visitors crowd around a glass display case in a small, dark parlor lined with curiosities and antiquities-part fortuneteller's lair and part Victorian anteroom. An eccentric host shares marvels like a two-headed baby chick, a samurai hara kiri knife and vampire-hunting tools used by wannabe Van Helsings of the late nineteenth century. Then, a secret door opens onto a larger but still intimate chamber with ornate sofas and leather armchairs and a small aisle in between. In those few feet the magic happens.
Many people think of magic shows as massive productions, with arena seating that keeps viewers far from the stage lest they observe the inner workings. But the Magical Mystery Show at the Hilton Waikiki Beach and the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui aims for the opposite: In the style and spirit of Victorian-era parlor magic (a popular form of entertainment long before radio, television and internet), this show puts audience members face to face with a rotating cast of world-class close-up magicians. Wondrous illusions are performed just inches from the audience, letting guests see for themselves that there's nothing up the sleeves.
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Nothing up his sleeve: Master of legerdemain Shoot Ogawa (LEFT), performs close-up magic at the Magical Mystery Show in Waikiki. The new show is an homage to parlor magic, a popular form of entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Ogawa, a Magical Mystery Show regular, is among a rotating lineup of twenty-plus magicians.
One of the repeat performers is Shoot Ogawa, the 2022 World Champion of Close-Up Magic. Before you can say "presto," jaws drop as Ogawa pulls off a string of perplexing prestidigitations, like turning coins into live goldfish mere inches from the audience's wide (and watchful) eyes. Ogawa's sleight of hand leaves onlookers bewildered. Never does he rely on big props to create illusions. It's all about the minutiae: coins, cards, rings, ropes and, most importantly, hands that make them do the seemingly impossible.
"Our shows are dedicated to King David Kalakaua, the last king of Hawai'i," says show founder Jonathan Todd. "He was the first reigning monarch to circumnavigate the globe, and in 1881 he met Queen Victoria in London and was treated to a parlor magic show. That Golden Age in the history of magic is the type of experience we're re-creating." The show also teaches magic through afternoon classes free to Island residents and hotel guests, and a portion of the ticket sales is donated to the Shriners children's hospital in a further nod to Kalakaua, who was head of the Hawai'i Shriners.
