- OTHER MEDIA
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- A mind reader and so much more
By: Leslie Katz
Examiner Staff Writer
February 25, 2010
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- There’s a thrilling tension that permeates “Now and at the
Hour,” a thoroughly intriguing magic show — of sorts — at
the Exit Theatre.
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- Christian Cagigal wrote and created the one-man performance, which
deservedly has been revived a few times after crowd-pleasing engagements
in New York and here in The City.
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- As with any good magician, his tricks are mind-blowing. Cagigal, a
local artist who grew up in Daly City, is an adept mind-reader.
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- Early in the audience-participation show, he asks patrons to recall
a specific happy memory of their past. Three people are given cards, on
which Cagigal then writes down bits of information about the remembered
events: one woman’s age, another woman’s location and one man’s
companion.
- Lo and behold, when the people reveal their personal details, they
match what Cagigal wrote.
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- Cagigal’s expertise, though, runs beyond his psychic abilities.
He’s a clever showman (a former member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe,
among other local theater groups) who grabs attention with a briskly staged
entrance, during which he takes off his coat and hat, sets up some chairs
and tables, unrolls a rug and prepares props — including an hourglass
and ticking metronome.
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- His most important prop is a funky-looking viewfinder-type device,
which he uses with the aforementioned cards to psychically look into the
past.
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- The story of how he acquired the viewfinder — from his father,
a Vietnam veteran who was psychologically destroyed by the war, whose disability
had a huge effect on his family — adds another powerful personal element
to the hour-long show.
- Cagigal’s description of his own past — how his father’s
“bad days” drove him deeper and deeper into his own quest to
make magic and explore the supernatural and other aspects of the unknown
— is as exciting as his magical feats, which also include some nifty
card tricks.
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- As Cagigal ponders time, the past, memory, imagination and relationships,
it’s an invitation for theatergoers to do the same, resulting in a
powerful, and at times, even a meditative experience — engaging from
start to finish.
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- Note for those wary of audience participation: Not to worry, because
Cagigal treats the “subjects” he calls on with grace and respect.
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