Successful magic tricks provoke oohs and aahs. Eyebrows go up, mouths freeze, mouth open in shock while the impossible just … happens.
You see these reactions in “Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself” (available on Hulu) because the man is a technically excellent wizard who can fold any deck of cards at will. But you also see people crying, overcome by emotion. And that doesn’t happen with Penn & Teller or David Copperfield.
“I want to do for magic what Duchamp did for art – to break it,” DelGaudio told The New York Times a few years ago. For him, tricks are a means to an end. Avoiding the hasty flash of a street vendor, he is a soft-spoken storyteller who uses sleight of hand, manipulation and illusion to explore his sense of identity and kindly invites viewers to do the same.
Somehow, DelGaudio managed to conjure up a hit from his almost metaphysical explorations: The on-stage version of “In & Of Itself” debuted in Los Angeles in 2016, then settled in New York for 560 performances in 2017-18.
Frank Oz directed the version for the stage and the film, and he skillfully captures the unique atmosphere of the project. Skillfully, he also uses footage from different performances to indicate various responses and results.
The biggest reward is established at the beginning, when each audience member was asked to choose a small white card from hundreds hanging on the wall in the theater lobby before sitting down: “I am … a translator”, “I am .. an idiot, “” I am … a scientist “and so on.
DelGaudio travels an apparently winding path to return to that initial decision – the scene is incredible in the original meaning of the word – and, in retrospect, you realize that he never abandons some essential questions: Who am I? What is arbitrary and what is predetermined? What is real and what is invented? The enigmatic artist Marina Abramovic can be seen in the audience and her interest makes sense.
“In & Of Itself” reframes familiar tropes like card tricks, objects that disappear and stupendous mentalism for new purposes. It is not always that a magic show makes you reflect not only on how, but also why.
Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself
Not evaluated. Execution time: 1 hour and 30 minutes. Watch on Hulu.