Magic in Walnut Creek
(Guess you can see where I stole the photo from. Wish he had some better publicity photos I could find.)
I’m a sucker for a good magician. If you can saw a girl in half and put her back together, I’m there for you. My own magical talents are limited to one poor sleight, but I love watching people do it well.
Tonight we saw a young man named Alex Ramos at the Margaret Lesher theater, and I think you should grab the kids and grandkids and hurry over while you can. Alex is not the very greatest prestidigitator in the land, but he’ll have you scratching your head more than once with a few truly astounding illusions, and keep you laughing all the while.
Ramos is from Richmond, and has travelled the world with his skills as a ringmaster for Ringling Brothers and with Disney in “Mickey’s Magic Show”. He’s clearly comfortable on stage and relating to his audience.
As you can tell, I really liked his show. I hated the music, which was played at ear-splitting level. Three minutes into his show I was ready to leave just because of the aural assault, and had to hold fingers in my ears for many of his more illusions. That volume is just unnecessary–if your act can’t galvanize the crowd, loud music won’t do the trick.
A magician needs a persona to tie everything together, and Ramos comes across as exceedingly likeable and funny. Some magic acts are serious, some are at least half comedy. This show is of the latter persuasion, with Ramos being every bit as talented at comic timing as he is at illusion.
This is a short-run act for the Lesher–just Friday night, two shows on Saturday (3 and 7:30) and another matinee on Sunday. The show is completely family-friendly, and is guaranteed to amaze and amuse the kidlings as much as the adults. I recommend it much more highly that the Nutcracker or that dreary old Christmas Carol. Go have fun with the family.
Totally Unauthorized 
I thought I didn’t like magic shows, but when I saw the one in Maui, it blew me away. It was also very funny.