Derek DelGaudio, the magician/illusionist, returns to the Geffen with his latest one-man show, In & Of Itself. Directed by Frank Oz, the show hopes to duplicate the success of DelGaudio’s previous appearance at the Geffen, Nothing to Hide, which was so popular that it got extended to 18 weeks and became one of the five-highest-grossing productions in the theater’s 20-year history. In & Of Itself is a collaboration with producer Glenn Kaino (DelGaudio’s partner in the art duo A. Bandit) and composer Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo, numerous Wes Anderson movies). Lighting designer Adam Blumenthal and “mentalist” Michael Weber fill out the creative team. These specialists have put together a quirky kind of magic show, one whose basic comic spirit has an aura of darkness and mystery (conveyed by DelGaudio in his sketch about a man addicted to the dangerous game of Russian Roulette). There is also a fair bit of talk about existential matters: “every secret has a unique weight,” commented DelGaudio at one point. The performer also kept urging the audience to ask itself “who are you” and “what will all this mean tomorrow.” The key theme of identity is hammered home at the climax of the show when, with dazzling legerdemain, the stage turns into a giant mirror in which the audience is confronted with a reflection of itself. When he’s not being serious — or is it mock-serious? — DelGaudio, a low-key but skilled magician with a deft line of patter, does card tricks, interacts with the audience, tells jokes, disappears various objects before our eyes, and entertains us masterfully (though he’s not above using shills for some of his better tricks and illusions. To explain further would be to give away too much). Mothersbaugh’s score provides a haunting underpinning to the one-hour show, which is ably directed by Frank Oz and lit beautifully by Adam Blumenthal.
