Pure Entertainment and Wonderment – Stalker

Apr 2, 2024 by Two Sues On the Aisle

By Sue Weston and Susan Rosenbluth, Two Sues on the Aisle

We have become accustomed to sharing personal experiences online, letting people monitor what we do and where we go, simply because everyone else is doing it. But what if you were singled out? This is the question posed by Swedish illusionists Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung in Stalker. Stalker is an innovative interactive 90-minute magic show produced by Penn & Teller and directed by Edward Af Sillén that opened on April 1 at the New World Stages. Stalker showcased mind-blowing illusions and ended with an unanticipated twist that left the audience buzzing.

The name Stalker may sound frightening, but the show is anything but. It is family-friendly entertainment, with a constant stream of magic that defies logic. How did they do it?

We puzzled about how the tricks worked while enjoying the wonderment of magic.

Mind Bending Entertaining

Upon entering the theater, we were presented with a stark stage that contained a board, and a blue screen enlisting audience participation. Twenty-five audience members were invited to have their pictures taken and participate in the performance. Don’t pass on this opportunity. We watched as a stream of participants approached the stage to be photographed.  They were all theatergoers like us, who unlike us, were interested in being part of the action.

New World Stages provides the perfect venue, with a clear view of the stage, and wide aisles where the performers interact with the audience. We were hooked from the first moment when the entire audience was asked to stand for a matchmaking game. It was an elimination. In the end, two people remain standing. Though they did not know each other, the magicians did, their names were clearly labeled on a prop that had been on stage all along. We were awestruck. The pair performed trick after trick most involving audience members who were as surprised with the outcomes as we were.

Their repertoire included older signature acts, one involved sequencing a Rubik‘s cube which a participant twists in random patterns, in another, they accurately predict what audience participants will do (which chair they will choose to sit in) and which envelope they will select. Brynolf and Ljung demonstrate their mental prowess at ‘reading-the-minds’ of the audience participants.

The performance integrates magic with modern technology. In one illusion they identify an individual by calling their cell phone, and in another, a selfie appears on a cake. They use cameras to display large images of the action on the big screen. While this may have been designed as a way to temporarily distract the audience’s attention, it created a close connection with the performers.

The show features a variety of illusions, each showcasing different dimensions of Brynolf and Ljung showmanship. Kibitzing as they guess personal information, manipulate items with their minds, bend a spoon, or make a cellphone disappear and reappear in a ‘cake’. Stalker presents so many spectacular magical acts, each more mysterious than the next. We noticed a minor mistake, a miscalculation, but the performance moved swiftly forward letting us forgive and forget the flaws as small glitches in an otherwise perfect performance. Time flew by, with the narrative going back and forth between Brynolf and Ljung, running through a repertoire that even included card tricks, performed up close and personal in the audience.

The Swedish Duo

Brynolf and Ljung earned a reputation as illusionists in 2009 when they won the silver medal in comedy magic at the World Championships of Magic. Two years later, they appeared on the first season of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us!” and fooled the master illusionists. In a joint statement Penn & Teller said, “If we were younger, better looking, and lived in Sweden, this would be us!” and were invited to open for Penn and Teller in Las Vegas in 2011. Returning to Sweden they performed on their own TV show, “Street Magic” before touring the country in a series of original productions which culminated with Stalker.

Penn & Teller (producers)

Stalker is the first show (other than their own) that Penn & Teller produced. Penn & Teller have been performing together for almost five decades, starting in Philadelphia, where Teller’s Russian/Jewish-Brooklyn-born father Israel Max Teller lived.

Penn & Teller redefined magic adding their own very distinct comedy that transformed magic into pure amusement, especially notable is that in their routines Penn never speaks.

Impressive and Entertaining

The vast array of tricks performed over the course of 90 minutes was impressive. Some were oldies-but-goodies, and others leveraged technology and illusion, as Brynolf and Ljung professionally transitioned from one act to the next allowing just enough time for applause. The show was entertaining, and even more spectacular when they involved audience participants.

Stalker undeniably reminds us that with the internet personal privacy is impossible, “Everyone is being stalked, and everyone has become a stalker.”  We smiled, understanding the possible implications of this while appreciating their ability to flip the script and use this information for our amusement.

Stalker will appeal to magic enthusiasts of any age Brynolf and Ljung providing a sense of wonder and appreciation.

******

Two Sues on the Aisle bases its ratings on how many challahs (1-5) it pays to buy (rather than make) to see the play, show, film, book, or exhibit being reviewed. 

Stalker received a four Challah rating