Not Your Average Hocus Pocus
March 2, 2007
Harvard Square is full of fun things to do. From a wide variety of over-priced yet trendy clothing stores to some quality restaurants, there may actually be something for everyone. Yet, one of the most overlooked events occurs every Tuesday night at Hong Kong, a Chinese restaurant located on 1236 Mass Ave. If you are willing to brave the grueling trek to the third floor, you will be rewarded by some of the coolest comedy shows six nights a week at The Comedy Studio. Show up on Tuesday night, and you will have the privilege of seeing The Mystery Lounge, Boston’s only weekly comedy-magic show. In its 10th year now, the show is known to magicians across the country for its lineup of talent, affordable prices, and scorpion bowls.
Last week, the Observer was lucky enough to catch the nearly sold out show on February 20. Although things officially kicked off at 8 p.m., early birds got treated to close-up magic starting at 7 p.m. This particular night featured Harvard student Harrison Greenbaum. Greenbaum’s engaging personality and remarkable slight of hand left the crowd awestruck before the show even started. At about 8 p.m., audience members turned their attention to host Joe Howard, a longtime professional magician from the Boston area. He introduced the evening’s first act, Erik Rochelle.
Rochelle skillfully produced fans and fans of playing card from all sorts of impossible places where they don’t normally belong, including empty hands, behind his knees, and even thin air. Next up was the Fanueil Hall Comedy Connection regular Danny Hustle. Hustle performed many hilarious and incredible feats, among them a disappearing trick from his uncle and the world’s most dangerous card trick, both of which must be seen to be believed.
At this point I began to run out of adjectives for anything funny and magical, which was a shame because the next performer happened to be a personal favorite—Mike Bent. Bent, who teaches comedy writing at Emerson, unleashed a variety of skewed magic upon the audience. Somewhere after showing how to do a card trick for a dog and subjecting an audience member to some unexpected mind reading, he performed a trick taken straight out of one of Japan’s most famous magic books. Again, the audience was both doubled over with laughter and speechless with amazement, which seemed to be a growing theme for the evening. Just as I was breaking out my thesaurus on a quest to find new ways of describing the show, Steve Kradolpher was introduced. If there was any semblance of normalcy left in the night, it all went out the third floor windows.
Kradolpher took the audience on a deranged and hilarious ride that included multiple hands, playing cards from the future, and animated artwork. All of these descriptions are grossly inadequate; suffice to say that the whole “funny and magical” thing held up in a big way. Following Kradolpher, Joe Howard returned and gave the audience a taste of his own brand of magic. Although Howard does do some incredible things, I would have to say that the highlight of his act is the venerable cups and balls, one of the most widely performed magic tricks, in which balls vanish and re-appear from cup to cup, or pass through solid bottoms of cups.
Literally the oldest trick in the book since ancient Egyptian times, Howard even managed to baffle the mass of M.I.T. students in the audience, which is no small feat. At that point Howard gave us the worst news of the night, there was only one more act left. Then he gave some of the best news of the night: that act was David Oliver. Oliver is known across the country by both magicians and non-magicians for his interpretations of classic pieces of magic. While you may think that you have seen rings link and birds appear before, you haven’t until you have seen David Oliver. He was the perfect way to end a prefect show.
Perhaps the best thing about the Mystery Lounge is how the show changes from week to week. While certain performers will almost always be there, guests from out of town or local pros working on new material lead to a fantastic and different evening every time. The show really is wicked and you are guaranteed to walk away with awe, laughter, and the curious question, “Where does all of that stuff go?”
Get your laugh medicine at Comedy Studio’s Mystery Lounge on Tuesday nights at Hong Kong. For more information, visit www.mysterylounge.com.
