Walking down a crowded city street, you are approached by a performer looking for money and a few moments of your time.
Like most people rushing through life, you likely grunt "No thanks" or perhaps even pretend not to notice the person's existance. For Joshua Lozoff, at the time an ex-actor looking to find his next step, a street magician in Latin America changed his life.
Touched by the magician's connection with those with whom he interacted, Lozoff returned to the U.S and began taking magic lessons from an old family friend. He has since traveled throughout the world, learning and sharing magic.
Premiering Wednesday, Lozoff will debut his first one man show, Beyond Belief, at Manbites Dog Theater.
The show represents a change for the magician, who usually performs "close-up magic." Lozoff described close-up magic as spontaneous, one-on-one interactions he lets "flow how [they] flow," much like jazz.
"It's like doing a two-person play where the other person changes every night," he said. "It always feels fresh or new."
Lozoff said this connection with other people is the main reason he enjoys performing magic.
"Ninety percent of it is about interaction with people, and only 10 percent is technical," he said.
Since close-up magic is not meant for a traditional, large theater audience, Lozoff has had to develop some new magic for the show.
He will perform existing card and coin pieces, but a mounted camera will film his close-up magic in order to include the entire audience.
In the second act, Lozoff will move into the more ethereal realm of people-reading and guide the audience in trying to pick up on an audience member's thoughts and mental images using intuition and cues.
Although this show represents a change for Lozoff, it is not the first time he has been challenged to adapt his magic. In 2005, he was invited to perform at the World Expo in Japan.
Believing he would be performing close-up magic, Lozoff arrived in Japan to discover he was slated instead for multiple stage shows. He had to adapt his performance and find a translator to make the show compatible for his large audience. The show turned out to be an exciting success, he said.
Jay O'Berski, associate artistic director at Manbites Dog Theater and artistic director for Beyond Belief, cited Lozoff's ability to appeal to a variety of audiences as the most impressive aspect of his magic.
"He's really just able to walk the line between depth and humor," O'Berski said. "He avoids being cheesy, too new-agey or crass. He has something to offer everyone in a much maligned medium."
Lozoff has found, though, that the authenticity of his magic is questioned less and less by his audiences.
Those who do challenge him try to catch him and believe that if he fools them they lose, Lozoff said. He added that if he communicates his intention to play with people's minds rather than evoke the supernatural, there is less potential for antagonistic interaction.
The popularity of recently released magic movies like The Illusionist and The Prestige is positive proof to Lozoff that magic is currently an intriguing phenomenon.
"Its popularity ebbs and flows," he said. "There's the stereotypical joke of annoying magicians. These movies show that magic is appreciated."
Beyond Belief opens at Manbites Dog Theater tonight. All shows are sold out except tonight's pay-what-you-can preview at 8:15 p.m., which does not offer presale tickets, and Saturday, Feb. 17 at 10:30 p.m.
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