Magic Performace Lacks Sparkle
At 9 p.m. on Saturday in the Assembly Hall, magician Maritess Zurbano stepped onto the stage. For the next hour, she performed in front of a crowd of Academy members, offering tricks of mentalism, sleight of hand and fortune-telling. All the while, Zurbano kept a lively conversation with the crowd, sharing stories of her time in the magic industry as a woman.
Zurbano began her career in magic 23 years ago when she was tricked out of her savings of 300 dollars in a subway car. Wanting to learn how to trick others, she began learning magic tricks. More than two decades after she entered the field, Zurbano said that “you’re still not going to see a lot of female magicians.” Men dominate the magic industry, which Zurbano described as “very hostile,” because much of magic represents “the realm of the male fantasy.”
Zurbano expressed that traditional magic tricks like sawing a woman in half or having scantily-clad and naive female assistants can objectify women. Because those themes have been so ingrained in the current understanding of magic shows, it is hard to replace it with the pure wonder that can be derived from a magic trick in its simplest form. “For a female magician to make it big,” she said, “you have to threaten the existence of the fantasy.”
Making it big is something that she believes she has done, having participated in the F’D’Ration Internationale Des Soci’t’s Magiques in Lisbon in 2000, otherwise known as the “Olympics of Magic,” in which she competed with 150 of the world’s best magicians. In addition to this, she has starred in an illusion show in Japan and has managed her own fortune-telling business in Nevada.
These accomplishments did not come easy for Zurbano, however. For the past 23 years, she has worked and studied very hard in order to reach her current status as a renowned female magician. At the famous Chicago Magic Shop, Zurbano took her first magic lessons. She then traveled to Las Vegas, where she learned sleight of hand tricks from her mentor, Gary Darwin.
On Oct. 3, 2015, the Phillips Exeter community experienced Zurbano’s act, a product of years of studying and polishing.
Assistant Director of Student Activities Kelly McGahie said that Zurbano came highly recommended from one of the agents she works with to plan on-campus events. Zurbano has previously performed at The Magic Castle, a world famous Academy of Magical Arts. In her time at the Academy, McGahie said she had never hired a female magician. “I thought that was something cool I could do,” McGahie said. “I was really excited about the fact that she was a female magician.”
But despite initial excitement, the show was met with mixed opinions. McGahie said that while the turnout was good for a Saturday night event, the presentation itself was “okay.”
Similarly, senior Emma Kim left the performance confused, after not being able to understand Zurbano’s jokes and interactions with the crowd. She felt that this performance fell short compared to other recent ones, such as the “The Evasons: Mind Reading Duo” show.
“It was so confusing,” Kim said. “I didn’t understand her jokes, and I feel like she didn’t do much magic. I went to the performance with the mind readers and that was so good. I was hoping this would compare, but it wasn’t as good.”
On the other hand, other students appreciated Zurbano’s jocular tone with which she communicated with the students.
“It was really interesting, definitely different than all the other magician acts we’ve had,” senior Pooja Punukollu said. “This one felt more kind of like a stand up show.”
In addition, students enjoyed the novel idea of a female magician: a title that few can claim. Upper Nate Bogardus commented on the stark differences between Zurbano’s act and the traditional magic show. He said it was interesting to see “something that bucks the stereotype of a male magician at the center of the show with a female counterpart or assistant who isn’t necessarily being given the opportunity to demonstrate much talent.”
Bogardus continued by adding that watching a woman perform a magic show was “thoroughly refreshing.”
Although reactions to the performance were mixed, many came to the consensus that seeing a female magician perform was a unique experience and an overall worthwhile one.
Punukollu said, “The performance was very much worth my time and was very entertaining.”