In & Of Itself NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (182)
See it if you want to be challenged by a magician who does his tricks slowly with great thought provoking dialogue. The ending was amazing! Wow!
Don't see it if you want to see a flashy fast moving razzle-dazzle magic show. The magician is very low keyed throughout the show.
See it if you want a magical experience with a wonderful message
Don't see it if you mainly enjoy musicals
See it if You like over-arching themes of illusion, identity, belief in the unseen, finding connection. It's magical, in every sense. You'll tear up.
Don't see it if Expecting standard magician fare. The show is special for many reasons, including the stories in-between. Don't read too much beforehand. Read more
See it if you want to both be amazed and provoked to think about what identity means
Don't see it if you prefer theater with a single story line, or you're just looking for a magic show
See it if Like magic Want to be amazed
Don't see it if You get headaches easily
See it if You enjoy one man shoes with heart and sincerity....and if you enjoy magic performed with a twist, entire audience left in awe of the talent
Don't see it if You don't enjoy biographical one-man shows that have magic tricks interspersed into the dialogue.
See it if you like storytelling and want to be challenged. I don't usually care for one-person or magic shows, but this is unique and excellent. Art!
Don't see it if you are expecting a traditional magic or illusion show.
See it if you like a story that has a unique, mysterious and magical element to it
Don't see it if you are looking for a typical magic show
Critic Reviews (25)
"'In & Of Itself' is literate and intriguing. Derek DelGaudio’s onstage persona is serious. He’s not trying to fool us so much as to make us aware. The boat effect, though charming, doesn’t seem to relate to a story and, despite impressive manipulation, I could have done without the inevitable cards. Everything else follows as the night the day, weaving an artful spell."
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"It is wonderful to witness the legerdemain generated by Derek DelGaudio...For all of the undeniable wonders that transpire over the seventy-five minutes, 'In & Of Itself' remains a cunningly low-keyed event, glimmering with a nearly mystical quality...DelGaudio’s medley of astonishments is heightened by the atmospheric production...All the elements coalesce to lend a gently hypnotic ambiance to DelGaudio’s doings."
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"A piece of theater that moves you rather than dares you to figure it out...Here he is now with a new solo show, one that pushes further forward into creating moments of emotion and beauty where the 'trick' or stunt or illusion is not the point. He’s not there yet, but the evening is satisfying on several levels and it’s quietly exciting to see where he’s headed...It’s not a masterful performance yet. He’s a natural at magic but not as yet a natural at stage patter."
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"At once personal and prophetic: The boy who hid information makes a living blurring reality...His tricks are impressive and he does amaze—but at times, the pacing is a bit too subtle...The real trick is how he employs stories, illustrated by cut-out windows on a back wall, to underscore his sleight-of-hand. For 75 gently hypnotic minutes, the amiable DelGuadio reminds us that seeing is believing—even if what we see is an illusion."
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“A haunting, one-man performance piece that explores the disconnect between how we see ourselves and how others see us…In fact, there's so much art in the show that at times the magic can feel distracting. That's because the heart of this piece is not astonishment, but a series of deeply felt, confessional narratives…And yet when the magic and storytelling perfectly align in the last half hour, it is as if he has pulled an elephant out of a hat."
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“A unique magic show...The show concerns itself with more than magic. It probes the viewer’s mind, inviting him to examine what identity is, really. As the show is interspersed with illusion, one may indeed begin to question formerly held conceptions…The show was at times mesmerizing, and never less than interesting. You can do worse than going downtown to the Daryl Roth Theatre and picking out your own card.”
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"Magician Derek DelGaudio astounds audiences with his new one-man show, combining confessional storytelling with amazing effects, revolving around the philosophical concepts of illusion and identity...Adroitly staged by Frank Oz with mood music by Mark Mothersbaugh and subtle lighting by Adam Blumenthal, it’s a dazzling theatrical display of the magical arts."
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“A genius magician dabbles in a non-linear one-man show format, which works sometimes but not others. The illusions, however, will definitely blow your mind…They are sometimes deeply emotionally moving…The monologues are a bit belabored, stretched, disjointed, and often unearned…It’s unclear what you’re ultimately supposed to draw from this theatrical fog, but you’ll definitely leave the theatre very impressed, with a hefty dose of warm and fuzzies.”
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