Invisible Tango is, to put it simply, the best magic act I’ve ever seen. Created and performed by Helder Guimaraes, a Portuguese-born magician now residing in L.A., Invisible Tango mixes fabulous card tricks with personal storytelling in a masterful and captivating way. When not gasping with amazement at his legerdemain, the audience sits entranced by his way with words. A small, bespectacled chap with a lively, vibrant personality, Guimaraes knows how to talk to strangers, form a human connection with them, catch them up in his spell. There is a theme to Invisible Tango; it has to do with the chaos and mystery of life—which is what magic represents, after all. Instead of recoiling from it, we should embrace it, Guimaraes feels, if only because clarity can emerge from it. “What you see is not right or wrong,” he insists more than once during the course of his 80-minute show, “it is merely part of the whole image.” Even if you don’t take his bromides to heart, you will still be blown away by his expertise with magic…and by his love for his profession. Part of Invisible Tango is an homage to his hero, Max Malini, an Argentinian magician who came to prominence in the 20s and 30s. Some of the tricks Guimaraes performs today were invented and perfected by Malini a hundred years ago. Guimaraes also pays heartfelt tribute to another major influence on him, a circus-clown/folk-philosopher named Gabriel. The show takes place an in intimate setting. The Geffen’s Skirball Kenis black-box theatre has been reconfigured (by designer Francois-Pierre Couture) to resemble a living room, which means much of the audience sits close by Guimaraes. This makes it easy for him to involve large numbers of people in his act, which is about as good as it gets.
