Friday, October 24, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHOW REVIEW: 'New Art of Magic' lacks flair

Dirk Arthur's lack of charisma undercuts an otherwise impressive show at the downtown Plaza

Dirk Arthur's "The New Art of Magic" has relocated to the Plaza.

There's a new subtext to Dirk Arthur's "The New Art of Magic" show that wasn't there when he performed at the Silverton last summer, or even when he reopened at the Plaza late last month.

"See live tigers here" proclaims the Plaza marquee, calling more attention than Arthur does onstage to the fact that it's harder to see exotic animals in Las Vegas after Roy Horn's Oct. 3 tiger bite forced the closing of "Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage."

Roy's misfortune generates a new kind of scrutiny of a video segment -- one that parallels a similar video in the Siegfried & Roy show -- featuring the magician frolicking with his tigers in his back yard.

"It's never happened, but if I were to get hurt or badly bitten, it would be my own fault," Arthur says in the voiceover.

In the live show, the animals stay caged. The only exception is a very young leopard on a leash.

To some degree, the whole show is slightly caged as well. It's hard to even declare the tigers as the dominant element of a complex, fast-moving production that throws a whole lot at you, yet never quite manages to emerge with a distinctive personality to hold it all together.

The best that can be said of the show -- and it's not insignificant -- is that it offers more illusions at a faster clip than you're likely to see anywhere else in town. But in doing so, it also proves it's the personality of the magician, not the mechanics of the switches and sleight-of-hand, that sell the tricks.

Arthur, alas, has an underwhelming stage presence and a nasal speaking voice that mostly eliminates any charming of the ladies, a la Lance Burton. Nor does he go the other direction to create a comic persona in the vein of Penn & Teller or Mac King.

Instead, he tries for the average-guy-doing-cool tricks vibe of David Copperfield, and attempts to offset his lack of physical charisma with not just white tigers, but with leopards, ducks, a chicken, a Lamborghini, a helicopter and even a locomotive engine prop.

All this is particularly impressive for a cozy, old-Vegas showroom that saw its best years in the '70s, with dinner theater comedies such as "Natalie Needs a Nightie."

Arthur has cleaned up the joint and added new curtains and computerized lighting, not to mention all the backstage stuff the audience doesn't know about.

The show is still in what's considered its "soft opening" phase, giving the illusionist time to work out technical quirks such as an overpumped soundtrack and lighting that often left the stage so dark the tricks seemed less stunning than they could have; the pitch-black backdrop seemed to be disguising the magic, but Arthur's brighter show at the Silverton proved that often was not the case. Sunday's performance also sported an overactive "haze machine" that had the room looking like it was ready to host a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

But youngsters will be particularly forgiving, and downtown finally has a family show that offers all the "greatest hits" of Las Vegas stage magic. A Lamborghini levitates and then vanishes. A female assistant goes into a mirror ball that's skewered with flaming spikes before a baby leopard emerges.

And Arthur builds to a series of big finishes, starting with a white tiger that's elevated in a cage and "exploded." That's followed by a vanishing helicopter and the locomotive "encore" that dutifully impress given the size of the room.

It will be interesting to see what happens once Steve Wyrick opens a new magic show at the Aladdin to create a three-way battle for magic's middle tier with Arthur and the Sahara's new "World's Greatest Magic Show."

No matter who wins that one, Arthur's show leaves one thing clear: You can get all the illusions your head will hold at a relative bargain. But if you want to see them done with panache, it's gonna cost you extra for Burton or Copperfield.