"In & Of Itself" at Daryl Roth Theatre

Photo linked from show's website

This one's a little weird to write about. It's not really a play, but it's definitely a play-like performance, with magic or sleight-of-hand or illusions or however you want to describe it. I guess the shorthand would be that it's a magic show.

I like magic shows. A couple of my favorite evenings ever were spent watching Penn and Teller both do and then explain how they did some truly amazing stuff. And I'm never sure which is more impressive, pondering how something is done, or knowing how it's done, but still being fooled, amazed, and so on.

In & Of Itself is a one-man show (or at least there is only one person on stage; there are definitely crew running lights, cameras, projections, and other things) starring Derek DelGaudio. I had never heard of him before, but he is a very talented performer. The show has quite a pedigree, however, including director Frank Oz and producer Neil Patrick Harris. I stumbled across this show tangentially from reading something about Oz, and the reviews were extremely positive, so I decided to go see it. Besides, the rest of the family was going off that night to see Dear Evan Hansen, which I decided to pass on.

Overall, I have to say there's not a lot I can describe about the show without spoiling things. Also, it's really hard to pin down what the show is about, anyway. It's definitely not just a string of illusions or tricks; there is a narrative that runs through it. DelGaudio is a good, low-key, story teller, but of course, this is a magic show, so by definition we know we should take anything at face value. Maybe some of the stories (or some aspects of some of the stories) are true.

Pre-Show

Outside the theater (which appears to have been built in the basement of a former bank--cool!) and also in the lounge below the theater there are posters covered with little cards that read "I AM" followed by the name of some identity. Some are occupations, some are descriptions of attributes (e.g., introvert, healer, optimist), and some are kind of whimsical. It's interesting to look at, but there is no explanation.

Then as we enter the theater, we walk by a wall with cards that can be removed, and we're told to pick one before we go inside. There is still no explanation.

Again, I can't say too much about what happens with the cards or why, but suffice it to say that much of the show is a riff on the question of identity.

The Show

There are six sections to the main part of the show, each with its own story, but all falling into the larger narrative. And each section goes along with a different sort of illusion. It's all quite interesting and engaging, as you would expect from a magic show.

I'm not sure I can say much that's meaningful about any of the sections or illusions, other than some very general comments. For example, DelGaudio may be the slickest card-handler I've ever seen. His narration seems to be an exploration of himself, his life, his role...indeed, his identity. But again, with a magician, you can never accept anything as what it seems to be. The narration seems to also be guiding us to think about our own identities, and the cards viewed and selected before the show play into that, though in ways I can't really go into without spoiling things.

As a side note, this is one of the most difficult shows I've ever tried to write about. Between the desire to not include any spoilers and the intrinsic nebulousity of the material, I'm finding it hard to say much of anything at all.

Bottom Line

I was quite taken with the show overall. Not life-changing, blown-away, must tell everyone, but it's a really good show, thought-provoking as well as entertaining. I should also mention that the pre-show environment seems to induce conversations among attendees to a degree I've rarely seen in a theater. I got drawn into chats with several people in the lounge as we all looked at and interpreted the poster on the wall, and I also chatted with people on both sides of me in the seats as we talked about what we were thinking about what was going on. That was some of the best stuff in the show.

You can probably enjoy this show on a number of levels. At its most basic, it's just a good magic show, and you could leave it at that. You can also dig a little deeper and try to figure out some things about the performer, and that's pretty interesting, too. And finally, you can turn some of that same analysis into introspection, and mull over your own identity. All seem valid and worthwhile.

After running for a couple of years, first in Los Angeles and most recently in New York City, DelGaudio is ready to move on. The final extension for this show runs through August 26th, and then it's done forever. If you're in New York, it's worth checking out.