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At your core, who are you?
It isnt your average magic show: Theres no razzle-dazzle, very littleshazam.
Instead it contains grave meditations on how we allow others to determine our selfhood.
Sadly, DelGaudios showmanship doesnt always translate to its new medium now you feel it, now you dont.
But DelGaudios oddly yearning text still has power on TV.
He hides thorns among the card tricks, prickly questions about identity that dont disappear with the next shuffle.
In & Of Itselfhas already barnstormed the theater scene.
Onscreen, though, DelGaudios deft manipulation of the rooms temperature and tempo are far less tangible.
Instead, the Hulu special tries to convince us of the shows impact via reaction shots.
Tim Gunns sobs trigger our own: When the film works best, it moves us at secondhand.
There are three strands to DelGaudios evening.
The first is the (originally) interactive one.
I AM … a ninja, says one.
I AM … a unicorn, says another.
So the lobby participation station is the first and savviest of DelGaudios tricks.
and acquisitiveness (merch!).
Its also, of course, the element that has the hardest job of breaking through the screen.
This I am motif returns in DelGaudios second strand his autobiography, and his struggles with identity.
Which animal, though, varies.
Another of the dioramas contains a sculpted canine head.
So, is he a Dog, showing off his tricks?
The third strand is the more conventional magic act.
Storms of emotion gather as people register each miraculous coincidence, organized for them by the courtly DelGaudio.
Every secret has a unique weight to it, he says.
And you could only carry them for so long.
A climactic effect near the end of the show rocks the in-person theatergoers on their heels.
Soisthis depth or just fake profundity?
But even though the emotion is all manipulation, theres still quite a bit of loveliness to delight you.
At various moments, DelGaudio handles a logbook containing contributions by audience members, a huge three-inch thick diary-slash-scrapbook.
On cloudy nights, they noted down their best guess.
A little bit of truth and a lot of nonsense can still carry you a long way.
