Xavier Mortimer explores the space between ‘magic’ and ‘magical’ — PHOTOS

Don’t be a xenophobic M-word hater.

Granted, it’s a potentially lethal combination: the French, with humor suspicious to U.S. sensibilities ever since they pledged allegiance to Jerry Lewis, doing that m—- thing.

No, not magic. Well, yes, magic, but Las Vegas got over that a long time ago. Xavier Mortimer offers a distinctive twist on the art, one full of body language and physical humor and facial expression some might compare to … mime.

Aw, c’mon. We used to like it. Marcel Marceau packed U.S. concert halls in the ’70s. But at some point it became a punch line in America, at least until Mortimer changed some minds on “America’s Got Talent” last summer.

Now the likeable 26-year-old is parked just down the Planet Hollywood hall from last season’s eventual winner, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, starring in “Xavier Mortimer’s Magical Dream” in the cozy Sin City Theatre.

Mortimer and his producer-director, French TV personality Alex Goude, took to heart the imperative to do something drastically different if they dared bring another magic show to the Strip.

What they delivered is less “magic” — as defined by fooling you with a trick or contraption — than “magical,” as in effects that charm and delight, even if they aren’t always a puzzle.

The very physical hour ditches the magician’s usual relationship to the audience for something more theatrical. Mortimer interacts more with the object of his affections, Belle (Lauren Metter), and his props, including video shadow dancers and the “Evil Me” he combats in a mirror.

The magic almost always unfolds as tightly choreographed comedy rather than “Hey, watch me do this.” Mortimer isn’t just juggling “bubbles” or making things pop out of cymbals (as seen in his “Talent” audition) for our benefit. No, he’s highly motivated by the understandable desire to impress Belle in her bathtub.

Goude wisely talked Mortimer out of the silent show he does in Europe and recruited longtime Lance Burton co-star Michael Goudeau to add scripted jokes. The result dances up to the edge of what always seemed like the one road still unexplored in illusion-saturated Las Vegas: a magic play.

But the wistfully expressive Mortimer is more like Chaplin’s tramp or Harpo Marx as stage magicians. There’s even a nod to Mickey Mouse’s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in Mortimer’s animated broom handle.

Metter helps keep the action moving with purpose, serving more as a comic foil than the traditional window dressing of a “lovely assistant.” She even switches places with Mortimer to be in control of one illusion.

Even so, the hard-charging hour just seems to barely get to the finish line without exhausting its bag of tricks. One more glimpse of Mortimer’s mirror image, or video silhouettes on the screen, might have turned this sudden good-Gaul-will into a revolt. This is the rare case where a few more minutes might be justified, if Mortimer gave the audience and his own body a breather for a calm stretch.

But if you — and especially you locals — think you and even your youngsters have seen it all when it comes to magic? This one will make you smile to realize you were wrong, and remind you to always keep an open mind.

Read more from Mike Weatherford at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com and follow @Mikeweatherford on Twitter.