Rory Raven's Brainstorming

Rory Raven's Brainstorming
Red Room
85 East 4th St., NY NY
part of Frigid Festival 09
Reviewed March 7, 2009

Rory Raven

Ever since I was a kid I've loved magic and especially mental magic shows. Whenever I see one in town I try to attend just for that thrill of seeing a performer work the old routines that still dazzle both smart children and disbelief suspending adults. I’m one of them and hope I always will be.

Rory Raven is a traditional stage mentalist with an interesting turn with his interactive show. 'Brainstorming' is a variety act that worked well with the small Sunday afternoon audience because he befriended the crowd rather than preached psychic science. There is nothing most people like more than being part of the magic show. If they’re not on stage than they love to know someone just like them is up there making the magic work. We root for the rube, the naïve babe in the woods under the control of the master magician. Raven delivers the dazzle clearly and with professional eloquence, answering to the questions he sets up. We know he won’t fail even though he questions his senses time and again. It’s fun to watch him go through his paces, even though we know the end result. He can’t be stumped, at least not on stage. My only desire is to see a mentalist who knows something more than his act, like what’s the future going to bring us. Perhaps that’s why I go, I want to believe.

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Larry Litt

Rory Raven's Brainstorming