2023 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Charlie Ross Comedy & Magic’ by Charlie Ross (4 Stars)

The fun of a magic show is to see if you can catch the magician’s sleight of hand, but fall into continual frustration. The fun of a comedy show is to laugh and maybe hear insights about the human condition. Magician and comedian Charlie Ross brings the magic and the laughs to his quickly-paced and entertaining show.

The morsels of wisdom Ross brought to his show, including statements like “The world only exists in your mind,” make him stand out as an engaging performer. He described how, similar to comedy, magic creates expectations that the performer shatters by steering in another direction.

Dressed in a black blazer and slacks sans tie, Ross served up jokes aplenty. He talked about growing up as a fat kid and dreading the Presidential Fitness Test, during which his gym teacher told him he was a “Rolly Polly Chub Chub.” He added an assortment of weed jokes and explained how his love affair with magic started when he was a kid and how he used it to flirt with girls he liked.

There were tricks involving three silver cups and three red balls; there were card tricks and Chinese linking-ring tricks. He impressively made large objects appear from behind handkerchiefs in thin air. One of his most impressive tricks was piecing a shredded playing card back together while the card was inside an audience member’s hand.

Ross relied on audience participation. The two volunteers he used for his Chinese linking-ring tricks actually linked the rings, not Ross. During his card tricks, Ross introduced the audience to a new magic word to beat the overused “abracadabra” — “bean bag.”

I did catch one of Ross’ sleight-of-hand palmings, but it didn’t take away from the fun because his how-did-he-do-that? tricks blew my mind. You’ll enjoy and appreciate these 50 minutes of laughter and magic.

Running Time: 50 minutes.

Charlie Ross Comedy & Magic plays July 20 at 7:45 pm, July 22 at 4:30 pm, and July 23 at 11:00 am at Squirt – 1st Floor – 1050 Thomas Jefferson. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online.

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriateness: Appropriate for Adults Only
Profanity: Yes

CAST
Magician/Comedian: Charlie Ross

PRODUCTION TEAM
Director/Writer: Charlie Ross
Lighting and Sound Tech: Lydia Peterson

The complete 2023 Capital Fringe Festival guidebook is online here.