Magicians take different approaches to afternoon family shows

The pools are crowded and the sunscreen always washes off too fast, so thank Vegas for afternoon magic shows on a holiday weekend.

Two magicians right next door to one another -- one new, one relocated -- are as different as can be, given that both turn out to be surprisingly good dancers and do the same bit with the little floating table.

COVERING THE BASICS

"Is this a magic show or just tigers?" the girl behind me asked her parents.

The answer is soon clear. Even though it opens with a white tiger's (carefully restrained) dash across the stage before the first human comes out, Rick Thomas quickly earns your focus as the center of attention.

The big magician with the Dudley Do-Right chin keeps the audience involved and a bit on edge, deftly balancing mock agitation and greeting-card sentiment ("Dream with me").

The veteran magician has circled back to afternoons, where he first established himself on the Strip in 1997. After years of hotel-hopping, Thomas is currently roosting in the Saxe Theater in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. (He plans to move to the Riviera once the old showroom there is renovated.)

By attrition and perseverance, Thomas worked his way up the Vegas pecking order to be the Strip's first choice for a traditional family magic show (David Copperfield is in a league of his own, both for ticket price and the novelty of his illusions).

Thomas promises new stuff when he moves to the Riviera, but repeat customers should expect a slightly condensed edition of the show many families grew up with: a solid 70 minutes covering the gamut of classic magic, from doves materializing in his hands to tigers showing up in the boxes that female assistants climbed into.

You could argue Thomas lingers too long with some contraptions whose secrets are now largely in the public domain. But even the basic levitation looks great, thanks in part to a theater built by another magician, Steve Wyrick. For a small venue, it devotes generous stage space to a theatrical presentation.

PARIS BY DAY

If you want to be realistic, the main issue for "The Magic of Paris" is not the quality of the show itself, but the quality of the competition.

Since we're sticking to the content here, it's for others to figure out whether the captured audience in the Paris Las Vegas/Bally's complex would venture next door to find Thomas, or up the street to Mac King and Nathan Burton, both in casinos owned by the same parent company.

What you do see onstage is fine, really. Experienced variety performers team up to offer a pleasant hour, with moments of understated European grace giving some credence to the title.

The little show does what it can to fashion a cabaret vibe, complete with two dancers, out of compromised conditions; the venue built for Anthony Cools' comedy hypnotism lacks wing space or theatrical lighting. So Stephane Vanel showcases his sleight-of-hand magic, and versatile comedian Mark Kornhauser and puppeteer Anthony Rais join in to make positives out of working close to the audience.

Vanel is a good looking, energetic star who is in the early stages of building a five-minute specialty act into a more complete stage presence. As is, his lightning-speed card manipulation gets a bit redundant. A "Matrix"-themed segment later in the show is really just more of what we've already seen in the opening segment.

Kornhauser is the one who illustrates just how much variety can be packed into 10 minutes. We're talking about balloon eating, playing "Auld Lang Syne" on a violin with his nose and imitating Elmer Fudd with a mouth full of Pop Rocks candy.

Rais adds the poignant charm with his sad marionette clown Totololino, drawing a gasp, then applause as the little figure blows up a balloon and drifts skyward. Such moments make a fairly generic proposition a little more memorable.

So who is better at floating the little table? Both magicians do the same audience-participation bit, complete with a layer of warm sentiment. Reflective of the larger effort though, it's Thomas who wields the tablecloth with the more assured hand.

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