Dennis Diamond, Daryl Hannah, and Louie Magic

I went to the Kirk Douglas Theatre to attend a Douglas Plus workshop for Next Stop Amazingland: "amazingland \uh-mey-zing-land\ n : place, zone or state where your mind is blown by the sheer power, grace and unbelievability of a magical performance syn see NEXT STOP AMAZINGLAND"
I could not wait to see this show because the same creators of the critically acclaimed dreamscape vaudeville All Wear Bowlers (2005), Trey Lyford, Geoff Sobelle. Lyford and Sobelle teamed up with world-class magician Steve Cuiffo two years ago to form this mix of half theatre half magic show. The world they created is full of glitz, humor, bizarre off the wall characters, and of course magic. Overall I thought the show was great as a theatre show but not so good as a magic show. I could see where they where trying out some magic tricks to get an re-action from the audiences to see if it worked or not. It was very choppy and very all over the place. Also because the theatre is so small you could see how the tricks where done. Maybe I am being too hard but All Wear Bowlers was flawless from start to finish and when I compare the two, Next Stop Amazingland does not live up to the same standards.

Though the magic was not that impressive what made the show was the characters. I feel in love which each guy's character and their crazy costumes. Lyford, Sobelle, and Cuiffo are very talented actors who transformed themselves into these off the wall amateurish showman. They knew very well how to play to the audience and feed of their re-action. Each character had their moment to shine and when they not doing tricks but instead were establishing their character that is when the show worked. I feel that if they focused on a better storyline that flowed (even if it does not make sense) and had the magic play a minor character of the piece the show would be so much better. By far Dennis Diamond was my favorite character and his microphone trick was the best trick of the night!

So I liked it a lot but sad to say I did not LOVE it. But I did LOVE All Wear Bowlers and this was just a workshop so I hope they take all the feedback from the talkbacks after the shows and reform the show into something great! I would watch anything that these guys create!!! ( I mean it!)

"Dennis Diamond, Daryl Hannah, and Louie Magic"-names of the characters from Next Stop Amazingland