Sunday, September 07, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: Mike Weatherford

Sahara gives magic another go

A lot of magicians are interested in the question to be answered at the Sahara later this fall.

Has magic in general passed its prime on the Strip? Or did the magician who just spent three years there blow an opportunity others can now capitalize on?

The magician in question is Steve Wyrick, who vacated a custom showroom this past Sunday and says a new deal elsewhere on the Strip is pending.

His replacement is "The World's Greatest Magic Show," which will opt for a variety format instead of a top-billed star when it opens next month. Ticket prices have not been announced.

Could Wyrick just not sell himself as a personality? Or were he and the Sahara -- also home of the troubled NASCAR Cafe -- done in by Las Vegas' shift to a more naughty Sin City image?

The fun questions are, alas, inseparable from marketing issues that confuse the matter.

When Wyrick's show opened in September 2000, I was more impressed by his business plan than his stage presence. The idea was to lure the family trade in bulk by undercutting the ticket prices of rival magicians. All seats were $35 for a show that didn't cut corners with three-story sets and impressive props such as a helicopter dropping down on the audience.

By the end, though, Wyrick's average ticket price was $54, only $3 less than Lance Burton's. And he turned to the complex business of ticket-broker commissions and bulk sales to time-share developers, who use the tickets to reward those who sit through sales pitches.

Wyrick's argument can be disputed but not dismissed. "People think the higher the ticket, the better the show," he says. "It's just the way the public's perception is."

The counterargument is that commissions are for those who lack the star power to intrigue the public on a walk-up basis, as the $35 tickets somehow failed to. In fact, the commissions arguably are a must for the new, no-star show.

"There's a hurdle for magic and magicians," says Stan Allen, publisher of MAGIC magazine. "People think they're all alike."

By wooing ticket sellers with fat commissions, a producer is betting that audiences lured in will like what they see and spread the word. It works for the similar -- and equally hard-to-market "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show" at The Venetian.

And some say "V" was the easier "sell" that proved the final nail in Wyrick's coffin. His show never seemed to overcome its labored start or create the feeling that it was about him, not the sets. "We were hoping he would grow into it," Allen says of a downbeat review in his usually fraternal magazine.

A team of magicians will now step up to prove dollar blackjack isn't the only reason to visit the Sahara. They will settle the too-much-magic question, but I'll still wonder if the $35 tickets aren't worth another try.

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Tuesdays and Sundays.