Just Another Magic Monday: Mentalismo!

.:Just Another Magic Monday: Mentalismo!:.

I'll edit this to include pictures by tomorrow, but I had the honor and privilege of catching The Mental Assassin, Mr. Justin Pinon do his first ever solo major show, Mentalismo. Considering an encore performance tomorrow is forthcoming, I think you should try and catch it, yourself!

I've always wanted to see someone try and do a full-length stage mentalism show here in the Philippines. There have been some attempts here and there, but most of the time, there has always been a need to hybrid-ize mentalism with something else, which kind of makes sense, since I'm one of those people who tried to bring the art form to the stage, and you know I will always lace my shows with more than just a bit of comedy, as I am wont to do.

But see, Justin doesn't play that way. He's a mentalist through and through, and he did a night of twists and tributes to the people who, directly or indirectly, helped get him known as one of the new generation of mentalists of note in this country. His style, a straight-talking performer who just seems mildly amused at the fact that he's achieving unbelievable feats with minimal effort, is quite an interesting take on the mentalist stage persona.

Is it a perfect show? Well, not really. I'm not at liberty to tell what routines he performed that night, for fear of accidentally divulging any routines he might plan to do again on the second night, but the venue was not the best when it came to production values. I guess that can't be helped, but instead of just handwaving it and telling you it's all good, I'd actually rather emphasize that Justin is a very strong performer, so don't let the production values get in the way of a very good show.

I know that the February 12 show went pretty well, even if it wasn't without some hitches, but let's face it: February 14's show will probably even be better, so come on down and catch the show tomorrow, if you can! Tickets are available at the gate, Scenema Concepts Theater, Semicon Building, along Marcos Highway. I believe it's worth every penny for anyone who has never seen what mentalism is all about.

And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, yours truly can finally produce another full-scale show again after two years of scaling down my annual shows. I've had some brilliant ideas over the past couple of years that no doubt, need execution. Now.

Congratulations, Justin, and I hope you break many more legs for tomorrow's show!