Boxes. Transparent boxes, tall boxes, metal boxes, toy jack-in-the-box-sized boxes and boxes in every geometrical shape you can imagine – Dutch illusionist Hans Klok had all kinds of containers in his arsenal for his New Houdini magical variety show at the du Forum on Yas Island.
The endurance artist, dubbed the World’s Fastest Illusionist, made his Middle East debut on Friday, with a second show on Saturday.
It might be fitting, albeit monotonous, to base an entire show that pays homage to Harry Houdini – one of the greatest magicians in history – around the type of trick that brought him to fame.
Called Metamorphosis, the act features the magician swapping places with his assistant within seconds of being tied up and locked in a trunk.
The 90-minute show had as many variations of that trick as the number of positions Klok’s assistant could bend herself into to fit in all those boxes.
And while Houdini managed the swap in the time it takes to clap three times, his successor achieved it in what seemed like a nanosecond.
The show was as much about jazzy dances cued to classical and pop music as it was about the acts of endurance that followed each choreographed routine.
The soft, blue light flooding the stage for the opening number meant that from my silver-ticket seat I struggled to see much of the action on stage, other than glimpses of dancers wearing white, pointy, cone-shaped hats and wielding what looked like lightsabers.
The struggle to see the acts, without the aid of large screens that usually relay the onstage action to those who opt for the cramped seating at the back, continued throughout the evening.
A few minutes into the show, Klok’s distinct surfer-blond hair blowing around in a blast from a wind machine, much like in a 1970s shampoo commercial, was unmissable. He spread his arms wide, prancing around the stage with his assistant after every trick, with a truckload of drama.
The first half of the show was repetitive, with a chained Klok or his assistant disappearing from heavy-duty boxes and reappearing unshackled on stage.
The two showstoppers just before the intermission came as a pleasant change of pace and didn’t disappoint those hoping for a few more awe-inspiring stunts.
Before Klok got to his masterpiece, the floating light bulb trick, he told the audience how the 20th-century American illusionist Harry Blackstone’s signature act was passed on to him by his son, also a magician, shortly before he died.
He then proceeded to unscrew a glowing bulb from a lamp and made it float around the stage and then among the audience, with no strings attached. That drew the desired gasps of amazement, with Klok teasing the wide-eyed crowd that he might share the secret with them.
The applause continued as Klok moved on to Houdini’s famous Chinese Water Torture Cell act. Klok raised the stakes by not only slipping the manacles off to escape from the water tank but locking his assistant up instead – all in the blink of an eye.
The second half turned out to be more entertaining, with the 2013 Britain's Got Talent semi-finalists Martin and Marielle's dizzying dance performance keeping up the tempo of the show.
Klok returned, this time with a bit more variety, to perform crowd favourites that included sleight of hand and mind games, before end-ing with a levitation act.
He also engaged the audience with jokes and anecdotes about how he began performing magic at the age of 8 and how his tours grew out of what was once a family business.
Those seeking never-seen-before, original tricks will not find much to take home from Klok’s show but, to his credit, his revival of the classics were indeed performed at a speed unmatched by any other illusionist – and with plenty of panache.
aahmed@thenational.ae