Midtown's Magic Carpet Ride

"The Amazing Max and the Box of Interesting Things" is an NYC show with Vegas flair, welcoming kids into a world of quirky and energetic magic that they (and their parents) won't soon forget.

Imagine for a moment the set for a Vegas magic show designed by 5-year-olds: nothing too glitzy (the real razzle-dazzle is reserved for the Amazing Max’s high voltage hocus pocus), just a draping red curtain framing a large mysterious swath of black velvet, a vase filled with -- are those?...I do believe they are! -- magic wands peeking out of an oversized gold vase, and what must be…OMG!…the Amazing Max’s tantalizing “box of interesting things”!

And while this collection of most intriguing elements will not be found in the showrooms of Caesar’s Palace (or Circus, Circus for that matter), they are ready and waiting for anyone with a love of illusion at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center. And that, my friends, is a very good thing for New Yorkers of all ages.

Catering to Max’s young fans (and soon-to-be converts), the mise-en-scene as you enter MMAC’s theater also includes, directly in front of the stage, a large red rug where spunky 4- to 9-year-olds with special “Magic Carpet” tickets gather cross-legged to await the arrival of the Amazing One (wriggling, giggling, and bonding with newfound peers optional, but fairly de rigueur). 

As for the pre-show music, no way a maverick like Max Darwin is going to sign off on kiddy tunes or ubiquitous magician background music. In his fun and funky abracadabra world, the soundtrack is strictly Top 40 pop -- a mixed tape that gets the kids psyched while assuring grown-ups they won’t be spending the next 60 minutes mentally recapping tweets and emails.

“There’s a stigma with children’s theater that comes with the belief that it’s not professional or interesting to adults,” says Darwin, who, in his many years perfecting his own brand of magical mischief, has made it his mission to ensure adults in attendance will be as enthralled as the kids. “Bringing together a group that has fun together is a great theatrical experience,” he says, adding that at every performance, he’s with the audience every step of the way and has no problem channeling his inner child for maximum multi-generational silliness: “I’m really, really, really having as much fun as they are.” 

Show Time

With a title like “Amazing” it’s pretty much a given that Max’s arrival won’t be run-of-the-mill: no ho-hum walk-on from backstage or materializing in a done-to-death puff of smoke. Max is all about surprise, so he hits the stage driving a tricked out go-cart wearing a sparkly black vest and a huge smile (cheers, laughs, applause). And then, without missing a beat, he launches into his signature patter: a scripted and improv combo-pack guaranteed to get everyone in the place amped and ready for his first audience “assistant” (in my visit, Jessica, a bouncy 6-year-old in a striped hooded sweater and jeans), and his lead-off illusion.

“I do a magic show that utilizes kids because, well, kids are naturally funny…and naturally brilliant. When I say, ‘Smile really big!’ it’s automatic,” Darwin says. “And kids do say -- and do! -- the darndest things,” he observes, citing one little girl who was so pumped up during her volunteer stint that “her eyes went wide, she gave me five, and went screaming around the whole theater before running back and collapsing onstage.”

In deference to Max and magicians everywhere, I won’t be disclosing any of his tricks -- although I will say that cards, coins, and a very amusing rope are part of the mix. Max may add to, subtract from, and/or rearrange his format during any given show.