Friday, March 30, 2012

Another review for the show from Zombo's Closet !

Cardone Spookshow Ghostly Fun
At Canal Park Playhouse

SPOOKSHOW3web

Devil-dice05Cardone's magic and spookshow at the Canal Park Playhouse, playing every Tuesday until April 17th, is an intimate, weird, and funny romp for just about everyone (except very young kids), especially the last 10 minutes, when the lights die and the ghosts come alive.

Wiry, long-haired, with a moustache that will never reach adulthood, Cardone is a charge of energy as he flamboozles his audience with illusions and a cheeky, Coney Island Barker style of showmanship as he entertains with magic, a straitjacket escape, and blackout spooks that are quite creepy. With a warning to leave before being locked in with the ghosts, the audience stayed in their seats except for one young boy who first tried moving from the front row, then zipped up his coat hood to hide away in, then, not getting much sympathy from his parents, left the small theater to wait outside.

But before those 10 minutes of pitch black filled with ghastly apparitions comes, done in all seriousness--or as much seriousness a 1950s spookshow would generate, of course--there's the intimidating guillotine, the television of the future, Elvis's sunglasses, razors to be swallowed, and a short intermission involving dirt from Dracula's Castle--no, not that one but the real Dracula's Castle--and assorted pass-around oddities to examine.

cardone spook showThe straitjacket escape is done (magicians, take note) with a Posey regulation jacket, the proper size (yes, straitjackets have sizes) to fit Cardone snugly. This is thereal one, ungimmicked, although being a slick magician, Cardone knows a trick or two on how to get out of it. The only quibble I have with his performance here is his explanation of the most commonly used gimmicked straitjackets. This is probably the one time in the show he's actually telling the truth. For the sake of amateur magicians everywhere, I hope no one believed him.

Some of you may remember the intimacy of Imam's Magic Cafe in Greenwich Village. That same intimacy of a live performance happening a few feet away from you is captured in the Canal Park Playhouse. And there are waffles! With real maple syrup.

Perhaps the most bizarre and funniest moment is reached when Cardone uses the help of a spirit, caught in a plastic jar filled with greenbacks, to devine an audience member's selected card; then again, there's the appropriate song Cardone sings--rather well--while sticking his head in the guillotine.

That was also pretty unusual, for an already unusual show you shouldn't miss.

Zombo's Closet

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

First Review is in for the Spook Show !

Cardone -not just your everyday magician.

By: Sandi Durell

If it’s spooky, scary, flying goblins and ghosts you’re after, you’ve got ‘em and more! Cardone, dubbed a Vaudeville Magician, is a multi-faceted talent whose skills as an illusionist, mind-reader, ventriloquist and actor make for a satisfying evening of performance. And, yes, you can bring the kids. The Canal Park Playhouse downtown is the home to Cardone’s “Spook Show – House of Ghostly Haunts” where, every Tuesday at 7 pm thru April 17th, you can shriek, ooh and aah and maybe even become part of the show.

From mind-reading card tricks to swallowing razor blades, to making Elvis sunglasses float on a table, or placing an audience member in the Time Machine of Death, there’s no doubt that one cannot help but be delighted by the skillfulness Cardone exhibits and his humorous presentation. Things get a little more edgy watching him escape from a straight jacket or the ultimate “off with his head” at the guillotine.

Together with eerie background organ music and video screen clips from the film “House of Terror” setting the tone, you won’t be disappointed. Why he even shows you his private Dime Museum collection midway through.www.cardonethemagician.com

Canal Park Playhouse, 508 Canal St., NYC Tickets: 888-811-4111 www.canalparkplayhouse.com