Comedy and magic are so tightly intertwined that it’s a wonder we don’t get more live shows like Justin Willman: Magic Lover. In an hour-long special, the star of Netflix’s Magic For Humans combines crowd work, traditional gags, and surprisingly intricate and collaborative magic tricks into a fun fusion that works on just about every level – and keeps working better and better as it goes.
I’m generally sceptical of this sort of thing, which apparently makes me a prime target. Willman himself creates a distinction between true believers and unconvinced plus-ones nice and early, and continually refers back to the idea. It’s one of a few recurring bits – the others include a ZIP code mishap and the solution to a Wordle puzzle – that have kind of an amazing payoff. Cynics can’t help but wonder whether the only way this is all possible is through some plants and production chicanery, but you never know. Which is the point.
The fact that Willman understands this is probably what makes Magic Lover such a fun show. It’s designed to appeal to the people who already love magic – who are, let’s be frank, a pretty easy sell – and the people who aren’t quite sure, and so the tricks are built in layers to ping-pong between each demographic; the immediate illusion, then a reveal that suggests a reassuringly plausible explanation, then another, more difficult and surprising illusion that makes any potential method theories impossible. That feeling of never quite knowing whether a trick or a bit has truly ended or might be called back to later makes the hour fly by. And the finale is so tightly and satisfyingly executed that it’s hard to imagine anyone, even the most ardent sceptic, being unimpressed by it.
It helps that Willman is likeable. Lots of magicians are personable and make quips as part of their act, but Willman understands comedy intimately. Sure, most of the interactions, including the most seemingly random ones, are components of larger tricks and illusions. But the one-to-one banter works on its own terms. Willman’s quick-witted but uncontroversial and non-threatening, the perfect balance for someone whose show is determinedly family-friendly. That expertly done closing bit involves children plucked from the audience seemingly at random to make a point about serendipity, but the bigger point it ends up making is that everyone present is having an equally good time. That’s something of a magic trick in itself.
These connections – between comedy and magic, between adults and children, between sceptics and believers – are obvious to Willman and become obvious to the audience through his act. There are others, too. A recurring bit about memorising ZIP codes is really a feat of memory more than a trick, but there’s something intuitively similar about the two. The overall effect inevitably creates the idea in your mind that this guy really is magic, because he can do all kinds of seemingly impossible things. The cynicism melts away. You know it’s a trick, inevitably, that you’re being conned and programmed and manipulated. The real magic is convincing you not to care, to succumb to the most fundamental ideas of wonder and joy.
This vibe is threaded all the way through Justin Willman: Magic Lover, and it’s absolutely integral to it. You might have seen better stage magic, and you’ve certainly heard better comedy, but the alchemical effect of combining the two in just this way provides a uniquely accessible and enjoyable show. Highly recommended for all the family.