Photo by: Heather Alleman
The Troy Arts Council presented Spencers Theatre of Illusion Tuesday night in Claudia Crosby Theater. The Spencers, Kevin and Cindy, used their skills at illusion to share their passion for the art of magic.
The Spencers are an award winning act, having recently been named International Magicians of the Year by the International Magicians Society. This puts them among the ranks of Doug Henning, Harry Blackstone, Jr., Penn & Teller, David Copperfield and Criss Angel.
The Spencers humorous and high energy show opened with Spencer cutting his wife and assistant in half. While equipment for the next trick was set up, Spencer tore and reassembled a newspaper.
For his next trick Spencer asked for a volunteer from the audience. He placed the volunteers arm in a box so that her hand came out one side, and he placed three metal rings in the box. When the volunteer removed her arm the three rings were around it.
Spencer also preformed one of Houdini’s tricks. A wall of cinderblocks was constructed on stage, and screens were placed on either side of the wall.
An audience member was invited on stage to investigate the cinderblocks and observe the wall and screens during the trick. After the wall was built, the magician entered one screen, walked through the wall and exited from the other screen.
After astounding the audience by walking through the wall, Spencer went on to read the minds of three volunteers in the audience.
A young volunteer was then called on stage to help with a trick called the Spikes of Doom. The volunteer lay on a table with retractable spikes and appeared to be impaled by the spikes. Afterwards the volunteer was unharmed, but a newspaper that had been placed on his chest was shredded.
Spencer went on to materialize a number of bottles, cause his assistant to appear in a previously empty cabinet, and perform a number of other small tricks. The magician finished his show by cutting his assistant in half again, this time separating the sections of the box she was in.
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