Tucson's top purveyors of magical trickery will share the stage to celebrate the 25th "Stars of Magic" show on Saturday.
The cast includes Eric Buss and John Shryock, Tucsonans who have performed on magic stages around the country; and the return of a number of performers who have been regulars over the years, including Hiro & Yuki, a couple who research cancer during the day and perform magic at night; Norm Marini, who spends his days baking bread at his family's La Baguette Parisienne; and Adrian Van Vactor, an illusionist on a Christian mission.
All but one of the 14 acts on the show are based in Tucson - Buss, a Tucson native, now lives in California.
Michael DeSchalit, who is producing the show and also performing in it, said the lineup includes repeat offenders of "Stars of Magic."
"We're bringing back some of the old-timers," said DeSchalit, a full-time magician making his 16th appearance on the show. "Out of the 14 acts, only four of them have not been in Stars longer than 10 years."
"Stars of Magic" is the annual showcase for The Society of American Magicians Assembly No. 136. At 25 years old, the show doesn't hold the record for longest-running magic show - that honor goes to "Salute to Magic" at the Manhattan Center in New York City, which passed the century mark a couple of years ago. But surviving 25 years is a landmark, Buss said.
Buss, 37, was 16 when he first stood on a "Stars of Magic" stage. He wasn't performing - he was sweeping up between acts, he recalled last week as he prepared for an appearance on the NBC variety talent show "America's Got Talent."
The following year, Buss made it to the stage sans a broom. His career led the Sahuaro High graduate to leave Tucson in 1998. He's returned a few times for shows and to visit relatives, but the Los Angeles area is home and its comedy clubs and magic theaters - and occasional cruise ships - have become his workplace.
Buss returns for his first "Stars of Magic"show in a decade armed with his "Spring Snake Symphony," a routine not many in Tucson have seen live. (Some might have caught it during his recent Gaslight Theatre shows or on his "America's Got Talent" appearance last week.) He describes the routine, choreographed to Strauss's "The Blue Danube Waltz," as the perfect marriage of "visual comedy and artistic chaos."
In addition to spring snakes shooting in the air, expect to be thrilled by sleight-of-hand trickery and grand illusions including some hypnotism from DeSchalit; comedy from Marini; disappearing acts from illusionist Allan Rasco; and "Mentallusions" from Rod Robison.
"It's a bigger show on a bigger stage, grander illusions," DeSchalit said.
Tucson has had a long history of being a strong magic town, driven in large part by Williams Magic & Novelties, 6528 E. 22nd St. The store, which sells magic supplies, books and tricks, has been in business for more than 45 years.
"Williams Magic is one of the last brick and mortar magic shops left in the country," DeSchalit said. "That says a lot about the enthusiasm for magic in the community. Because they are open means magic is still very big in this community."
If you go
• What: 25th anniversary Stars of Magic.
• When: 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
• Where: Temple of Music & Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.
• Tickets: $16 adults, $12 children 12 and younger at Williams Magic & Novelties, 6528 E. 22nd St.; or online at starsofmagic2012.com
• Lineup: John Shryock and Mari Lynn, Eric Buss, Michael DeSchalit, Hiro & Yuki, Norm Marini, George Franzen, Allan Rasco, Rod Robison, Jayson Schultz, Tom Potter, Nellie Monroe, Adrian Van Vactor, and Bruce and Jan Spell.
