Magic in the MOV

by Chelsea Ayers

Friday night was a magical evening in historic Marietta, Ohio. International award winning illusionist, Jason Bishop, performed The Jason Bishop Show in The People’s Bank Theatre. As one of the most dynamic illusion and magic shows there are, it was a spectacular show to watch. Jason has performed for Caroline’s on Broadway, Disney Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Paris and now his tour is leading him through various performing arts centers and theaters across the United States.

Jason is known for his wide variety of illusions. He currently has one of the largest touring illusionist shows with multiple tricks both big and small of making items disappear, walking through a brick wall, levitation and so much more. From the moment he stepped on stage, Jason had everyone in the audience hooked. Not only did he perform some of the most difficult illusions, he also kept the crowd laughing. He is great at making objects disappear including: a plastic ball, multiple light bulbs and even his dog, Gizmo. Throughout the entire show I constantly found myself saying, “Wait what, I’m confused.” Each trick was done with such precision that you were constantly asking yourself how he was doing it. Which, he sometimes would answer.

After stunning the audience by turning a piece of paper into an egg the first time, he went step by step showing us how he perfected the trick and the exact way to do it, but he made sure not to give it all away. After showing us how he turned the paper into a “plastic prop,” he had us fooled again when he then cracked the “plastic egg,” that we just watched him stuff a paper into from a little hole in the back, into a real egg yolk and all.  

Another thing that I found interesting about the show is how involved Jason gets with the audience. He brought multiple volunteers on stage from ages nine and up, having them test different items to make sure they were real and not props. One child even got to keep a bill that he turned from being a one dollar bill to being a one hundred dollar bill.

Other than cracking on-the-spot jokes that went along with what the crowd and volunteers would say, some other tricks that Jason performed were making a live fish appear out of his phone, walking through a brick wall, putting his assistant in a tiny box and then shoving swords through it and ending the show with an awesome card trick that sent cards flying throughout the entire theatre. The Jason Bishop Show was fun for all ages and kept us entertained the entire time.

To see for yourself what Jason has to offer, you can catch him on an upcoming series of the CW’s  “Masters of Illusion”