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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.
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.
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 “magical pocket of mystery” off camera.
She then held up the torn card, asked me for a magic word (“Abracadabra”), 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).
Maybe I’m 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.
Speaking to me from Las Vegas, where she’s in residence at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Kramer said Long Beach audiences can expect magic and comedy in Saturday’s show, as well as audience participation, where those in attendance can come on stage to be “part of the magic.”
“I love the audience participation element of the show,” Kramer said brightly. “It means every single show I do is different because every audience is different. The audience really makes the show what it is.”
The magic will also include sleight-of-hand card tricks, which are especially near and dear to her, she said. That’s because when she was 10, her Uncle Steve gave her an “old-school” magic book that changed her life.
Kramer went to a shelf and came back with a red-covered tome called “The Royal Road to Card Magic,” with an inscription from her uncle inside.
“It’s my most treasured physical possession in the entire world,” Kramer said. “It is the very book that got me into magic. To this day, card magic has a special place in my heart.”
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’s Harry Potter book-release party, having been a fan of the series.
Later, while at Yale University, where the campus’ gothic architecture reminded her of Hogwarts, Kramer founded the Yale Magic Society and incorporated magic into her class presentations.
“There wasn’t a major in witchcraft and wizardry,” Kramer said, explaining why she majored in theater studies. “There’s so much overlap between theater and magic.”
A sense of wonder is at the heart of the magic she creates, Kramer said, a suspension of disbelief, just like in theater.
“Magic brings out the five-year-olds in everybody,” she said. “It’s 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.”
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.
As a woman magician in a male-dominated field, Kramer said what sets her apart is that she doesn’t come across as “the all-powerful magician” like some performers.
“I don’t want to fool you as a magician,” Kramer said. “That’s totally not what magic is about. People have a curiosity about how magic works, so I think there’s a possibility to have a power dynamic, but I’m really not about that at all.”
There will also be other feminine touches to her show in Long Beach, Kramer said, including a fashion-oriented “magical quick-change” 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.
Above all, Kramer invites audiences to come to her first time at the Carpenter Center and “co-create an experience centered around wonder.”
“I love getting to connect with people,” she said. “I am so excited and thrilled and grateful to have the chance to perform in Long Beach.”
“The Magic of Jen Kramer” 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 CarpenterArts.org.