dirk arthur – Magic Roadshow

Summer, and TV, good for Magic on the Strip..

August 9, 2015 Rick Carruth

By Mike Weatherford for the Las Vegas Review-Journal..

The home stretch of summer preserves some uniquely Las Vegas traditions for magicians and the TV exposure that helps them. Especially the one in the green dragon costume…

Piff the Magic Dragon (John van der Put) sailed to the live competition of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” after Neil Patrick Harris, who makes no secret of his fondness for magic, used his “golden buzzer” to send the comic magician straight to the next round of competition at Radio City Music Hall starting Tuesday, bypassing the rest of the preliminaries.

In the long term, at least, that’s good news for “X Comedy — Uncensored Fun” at the Flamingo. Producer Angela Stabile says Piff will return to the show Sept. 3, so he would be flying back and forth to New York until the “Talent” finale Sept. 16 if he goes the distance.

But next week, he goes straight from “Talent” to the Edinburgh Fringe festival to do the long version of his act, “Breakfast at Piffany’s,” Friday through Aug. 29. Piff is being spelled in “X Comedy” by the funny juggling dude comedian Todd Paul, so audiences are still getting a strong variety show.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/mike-weatherford/summer-and-tv-good-magic-the-strip

Want to know more about Piff? Check out this interview with the Magic Dragon himself.. http://lasvegasweekly.com/news/2014/may/01/interview-issue-piff-magic-dragon/

Despite protests, Dirk Arthur debuting his own production of cats..

December 1, 2014 Rick Carruth

Click to enlarge photo By John Katsilometes for the Las Vegas Sun

The Kats Report Bureau this weekend has been ensconced at the Riviera, and that hotel is happening this weekend with a couple of conventions that helped fill the lobby with hundreds of guests on Friday afternoon.Yes, the 59-year-old Riviera is positively bouncing with activity as we close out November. Soon to arrive at Versailles Theater, where the continuing renovation is apparent even at the vacuumed and polished entrance, are “The Rat Pack Is Back” and “MJ Live.”

These satisfying, resilient and adaptable shows are being swept out of the Rio’s Crown Theater to make room for the new “Duck Commander” musical, and I am tapping my watch while wondering when the contract will be signed and we can get to planning for that proverbial call of the wild.

November 23, 2014 Rick Carruth

By Mike Weatherford for the Las Vegas Review-Journal

“Welcome to my new stage,” Jan Rouven says. Then, as he steps down from it to a folding chair that serves as the halfway point to the floor, “It’s not a step, it’s a leap.”

Nice one. But it’s not even the best metaphor of the conversation.

I’ve come to talk to Rouven about his step/leap to the Tropicana. The new show opens Friday at a relaunched property with promise so far unfulfilled. It also puts him on the same intersection with David Copperfield and Criss Angel, two more famous magicians with bigger marketing budgets.

To make things even more interesting, Rouven’s old room at the Rivera has been taken over by Dirk Arthur, who opens there Dec. 1. Arthur is calling his show “Wild Illusions,” while Rouven’s is still called “Illusions.”

Arthur is “a clever marketing guy, obviously,” Rouven says.

“Don’t be nice,” chastises his manager and show producer, Frank Alfter. Then he adds, “Everything is good, but they could have avoided this one. It’s confusing for the customer.”

July 30, 2014 Rick Carruth

From the Laughlin, Nevada ENTERTAINER

Dirk Arthur

Dirk Arthur didn’t invent the magic act. That was probably accomplished in some prehistoric cave shortly after fire was discovered. What Arthur has done is take the magic act, as it evolved from a political and religious practice to an entertainment realm, and put his own imprint upon it. That is, he gravitated toward the big cats of Siegfried and Roy; the grand illusion of David Copperfield; touches of danger from the Houdini school of magic; and the subtle hand work of Blackstone; and blended them into his own tour of magic and illusion.

As stated, Arthur works with exotic cats and has done so for many years. But big cat magic acts are becoming rarer and rarer due to tighter laws regarding the keeping and transport of show animals…

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