Keith Barry

It's probably a coincidence -- isn't it? -- that Irish "hypnomagician" Keith Barry turned up in Las Vegas the same week as Criss Angel's grand opening. The two couldn't be more different, except Barry is the one doing the real mind freaks.

The young magician is pretty good with the comic banter, but his real aim is to genuinely mess with you. He serves up the "How'd he do that?" kind of head-scratchers people might be expecting from the guy over at Luxor.

There's a risk Barry's cross-discipline approach will be written off as redundant. His act juggles magic, mentalism and hypnotism, all of which at least one person is doing on the Strip already. And Las Vegas show-goers have never gone overboard for evening shows lacking the flashy sets or the dancing girls.

Barry's low-tech setup at the Planet Hollywood Resort looks as though he is about to address a bunch of Amway recruits: an easel, a table full of cups and things, a blown-up balloon tethered to a string.

But he gets your heart beating, especially when he stops his. A surgeon was called out of the audience to monitor the claim that Barry can "clinically flat-line."

No one gets too comfortable, because the foam darts or a giant disc randomly thrown from the stage could mean you're the next one called up.

One woman is asked to think of the age of a loved one. Barry puts marker to easel and writes down 16 numbers, which he adds up in various combinations (not all of them accurately) to get the right guess, 57.

A man and woman are chosen to see if they have a "rapport." They sit a few feet apart and close their eyes. When Barry holds a lighted candle under her, he's the one who squirms.

And so it goes. One minute he's faking out a guy trying to decide which envelope contains a $100 bill. Then he's helping the audience guess the name of another recruit's pet by holding up a sign behind her with the right name on it.

The act seems like it might make a left turn into a hypnosis show, but Barry wastes no time with the "instant induction" of three more recruits. "You're not really hypnotized, are you?" he asks the first, confirming our suspicions. That is, until the guy can't rip a piece of paper.

The likable magician keeps the patter rolling at infomercial speed and may be guilty of hitting the audience with more than it can absorb. By now, more than a week after his opening night, he might have given the show a better arc.

Lacking a big grand finale to build to, the audience was a bit worn out by the time he got to the end of an act where the pieces were basically interchangeable.

But he's doing things no other magician is doing on the Strip, and that may be his most amazing feat of all.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.