{"id":85238,"date":"2025-03-20T12:54:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T19:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=85238"},"modified":"2025-03-20T16:02:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T23:02:32","slug":"theater-news-magician-jen-kramer-brings-wonder-to-the-carpenter-center-this-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/theater-news-magician-jen-kramer-brings-wonder-to-the-carpenter-center-this-saturday","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: Magician Jen Kramer brings wonder to the Carpenter Center this Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or\u00a0sign up<\/a>\u00a0for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a Zoom interview prior to her upcoming performance this Saturday, March 22 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, magician Jen Kramer asked me to choose any card from a fanned deck she held up to her camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The queen of diamonds caught my eye, which she then pulled out of the deck, putting the rest away. She folded one corner of the card while holding it up for me to see, then slowly tore off that corner so I could see and hear it rip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She even showed me the ripped corner so I could see it was from the queen of diamonds before putting that piece away into her \u201cmagical pocket of mystery\u201d off camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then held up the torn card, asked me for a magic word (\u201cAbracadabra\u201d), passed her hand over the card and voila! The card was suddenly whole again. It was still creased in the corner where she had folded it but no longer torn, not even taped or glued (she showed me the back to make sure).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe I\u2019m a sucker for tricks like this, but it sure seemed like magic to me. It may have helped that Kramer herself is literally charming, maintaining a megawatt smile and lively energy throughout our meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to me from Las Vegas, where she\u2019s in residence at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Kramer said Long Beach audiences can expect magic and comedy in Saturday\u2019s show, as well as audience participation, where those in attendance can come on stage to be \u201cpart of the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love the audience participation element of the show,\u201d Kramer said brightly. \u201cIt means every single show I do is different because every audience is different. The audience really makes the show what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magic will also include sleight-of-hand card tricks, which are especially near and dear to her, she said. That\u2019s because when she was 10, her Uncle Steve gave her an \u201cold-school\u201d magic book that changed her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kramer went to a shelf and came back with a red-covered tome called \u201cThe Royal Road to Card Magic,\u201d with an inscription from her uncle inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my most treasured physical possession in the entire world,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cIt is the very book that got me into magic. To this day, card magic has a special place in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the moment she received the book, Kramer began practicing magic, performing as a kid magician in New York and for kids at a Barnes & Noble bookstore as a 14-year-old. She was especially stoked to perform at the store\u2019s Harry Potter book-release party, having been a fan of the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, while at Yale University, where the campus\u2019 gothic architecture reminded her of Hogwarts, Kramer founded the Yale Magic Society and incorporated magic into her class presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a major in witchcraft and wizardry,\u201d Kramer said, explaining why she majored in theater studies. \u201cThere\u2019s so much overlap between theater and magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sense of wonder is at the heart of the magic she creates, Kramer said, a suspension of disbelief, just like in theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMagic brings out the five-year-olds in everybody,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a beautiful thing to witness, to see everyone experiencing that sense of wonder. Magic is a powerful and special medium for genuine human connection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She hopes local residents can come and experience such connection as a way to relieve day-to-day stress through laughing and creating a shared moment with family, friends or just others in the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a woman magician in a male-dominated field, Kramer said what sets her apart is that she doesn\u2019t come across as \u201cthe all-powerful magician\u201d like some performers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to fool you as a magician,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cThat\u2019s totally not what magic is about. People have a curiosity about how magic works, so I think there\u2019s a possibility to have a power dynamic, but I\u2019m really not about that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will also be other feminine touches to her show in Long Beach, Kramer said, including a fashion-oriented \u201cmagical quick-change\u201d where she changes costume in the blink of an eye, and making a signed $100 bill disappear and magically reappear in a tube of lipstick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above all, Kramer invites audiences to come to her first time at the Carpenter Center and \u201cco-create an experience centered around wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love getting to connect with people,\u201d she said. \u201cI am so excited and thrilled and grateful to have the chance to perform in Long Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Magic of Jen Kramer\u201d is scheduled for Saturday, March 22, at 8 p.m. at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 E. Atherton St. Paid parking is available in front of the theater. For tickets and information, including specially priced tickets for 14 and under, call 562-985-4274 or visit <\/i>CarpenterArts.org<\/i><\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMagic brings out the five-year-olds in everybody,\u201d said Kramer, who is coming to Long Beach fresh off her headlining show in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":85240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-85238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85238"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85262,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85238\/revisions\/85262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85238"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=85238"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=85238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}