‘Verso’ offers another side to magic

What is it about card tricks? We watch closely, and yet, somehow, the magician manages to fool us, right before our eyes, again and again. We think we might know the secret, but, no, we are just plain duped. He might even entrust us with our own card. No way, we think, he can know. Yet we are helpless when the confident magician, with smooth patter and nimble hands, summons without fail the correct six of hearts. We gasp and cry for more.

Helder Guimaraes, in his new show, “Verso” at New World Stages on W. 50th Street, takes this tradition to baffling heights. There are no magic wands here, no corny mumbo-jumbo. Energetic and lithe in a well-cut suit (I wondered if the outfit was a custom job with secret passages among the three pieces), Mr. Guimaraes stands alone and riffs through his card tricks and other wild feats, some with the aid of apparent mentalism, and another that could be explained only as time-travel.

This last stunt, late in the brisk evening, produces a pre-dated artifact that seemingly predicts the quirky responses of random audience members. Another trick involves cash with the audience as a foil. Yes, you will ask, “How did he do that?”

None of this depends on showy excess. “Verso” is rather Mr. Guimaraes’s take on some fundamental human questions. Do we believe what we see, or what we want to see? Does fate predetermine our choices? Do we choose to be conned?

His illustrations – the elaborate tricks involving the audience, secreted cards, re-animated cards, and impossible transformations – are all convincing, and it is easy to see why Mr. Guimaraes has skyrocketed up in the world of magic. He’s got the chops, plus style and charm. 

With Rodrigo Santos directing, set designs by Catarina Marques, and lighting by Pedro Vieira de Carvalho, “Verso” presents us with a stage piled high with wooden boxes, with lighting interspersed, and everyday objects among the nooks. I wondered if the unused props (a football, a glass of milk) might turn pivotal for one of Mr. Guimaraes’s routines. The stage design extends out from the proscenium and into the house, which suits a show long on audience participation.

The production falters only on some fleeting gratuitous expletives – which are unfortunate, given that a younger family audience would no doubt rave over this master of legerdemain.  

Mr. Guimaraes comments on the process, giving a flyover view on bigger questions. He makes plain the implications of the con, even as he tricks us. The act clarifies the dangers of deception, and how easily we can get sucked into a fraud. That in itself is a worthy take-home lesson this political season.

“Verso” runs through Jan. 15 at the New World Stages, at 340 W. 50th St.
For tickets, call 212-239-6200.