Dr. Zombie’s Theatre Of The Unexplained
Dr. Zombie’s Theatre Of The Unexplained
Oct 31, 2009
The Garden Theatre, Winter Garden, FL</strong>
Perhaps you think you know how to pull a rabbit out of a hat, or saw a woman in half, or swallow a sword. But knowledge should never interfere with enjoying a good magic act, and Dr. Zombie’s Theatre of the Unexplained is about as good as they get. Presentation is always more important than the difficulty of the illusion. Dr. James Zombie certainly knows his stuff, and a good audience always helps, just like the tipsy women with British accents seated behind me.
Dr. Zombie splits his Wunderkabinett into four acts – Mysteries of the Body, The Mind, The Physical World, and The Spiritual Realm. The Body Mysteries aims for the lowest chakra – the illusions are classic geek show stunts performed by the rotund and doe eyed Joe (The Mute) Vee. Creepy stuff is always creepier if the presenter keeps his mouth shut, and Joe begins with an off hand sword swallow, a needle through the arm, and a nap on a bed of nails, all with no dialog. All were impressive and relatively blood free, and were followed by Nurse Christy McKay and her “Walk Thought A Stick” routine. She gave us a nicely disturbing double reverse wrist twist, and then she allowed herself to bend around steel plates in an impressive Blade Box. Professor Slim King covered the Mysteries of the Mind with some blind readings and game of Psychic Clue. His nicest touch – a real crystal ball.
Intermission brought us Dr .Zombie dressed in a James Whale white smock, black rubber gloves, and welding goggle with radiation hazard stickers on them. Two of the best illusions fell into this segment – a novel “Sawing a Woman In Half” used a volunteer and no box, and “Acoustic Levitation” lead to another volunteer unexpectedly leaving the stage, announcing “I have to pee!” We never saw her again…
A Ouija Board driven séance wrapped up the evening, we contacted and produced a woman who died from a falling lamp in the 20s. Garden Theatre manger Alana came on stage in her Dorothy and The Twister costume and explained the paranormal investigation the theater sponsored recently (it must have been during “Forever Plaid”). While the woman behind me announced rather loudly “Liar Liar Pants on Fire!” Dr. Z charged right ahead and kept control of the stage. Skepticism deserves no notice tonight.
All the classic elements of magic were here – bombastic set ups, sly misdirection, mechanical devices and every other suspect device, short of an actual bunny. Maybe I know how these illusions work, maybe not. You’ll never know if I’m just bluffing, or just a vapor from beyond the grave…
For more information on The Garden Theatre, please visit http://www.myspace.com/gardentheatre</a> or http://wgtheater.org</em>
