BY JESSICA NEU

I have had the pleasure of attending multiple shows at Liberty Magic. Each time, stage manager Zoe Ruth enthusiastically greets the audience. She introduces the acclaimed magician who is about to take the stage. However, last night at the opening of Liberty Magic’s latest residency, Ben Seidman in Good Charlatan, Zoe remained seated in the back of the house. Her charismatic introduction was replaced by Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 acid rock hit ‘White Rabbit” playing over the speakers. Grace Slick’s unique voice grew louder as the house lights dimmed. As the song’s final seconds played, Liberty Magic grew dark, and we had completed our journey down the rabbit hole. 

As the lights came up, instead of the Mad Hatter, we were greeted by magician Ben Seidman. His mystifying presence commanded the venue. He began his 90-minute set with a thought-provoking monologue questioning what we consider to be true at that moment, but then what would have to happen in an hour, a day, a week, or a year for us to realize that what we believed to be true was actually a fallacy?

Throughout the show, Seidman proves his talents as a sleight-of-hand magician, mentalist, and comedian. However, what sets Good Charlatan apart from other Liberty Magic residencies is his point of entry into storytelling. Seidman frames his show around the concept of a con artist. A masterful orator, Seidman engages the audience and tells the story of a man who struck up conversations with strangers, gained their trust, and then asked for their watches. The strangers willingly gave the man their watches because he had gained their trust and was confident. He became known as the confidence man – a term that was later shortened to the more well-known colloquial term, con-man. When the “confidence man” stood trial, he told the judge that he could not be charged with theft because each person willingly gave him their watch. Seidman reminded us that we often enter a situation trusting that the circumstances are fair. Our level of trust can increase or decrease depending on how our interactions or situations unfold. 

Seidman uses the themes of trust and being conned as he begins to execute his magic tricks. A sleight-of-hand pro, Seidman occasionally slows his movements down, offering the audience a rare glimpse into the execution of magic tricks (showing us where he draws a card from a standard deck of cards when dealing). Perhaps he does this to help us gain his trust. Someone honest and transparent about their actions could not con you or be untrustworthy. Right?

Audience participation plays a key role in Seidman’s show. He confidently works the crowd and invites both individual and group participants to join the action. Audience members joined Seidman, allowing him access to personal items, including their wallets, money, and cell phones. Seidman seemingly makes these items move, vanish, reappear, and then disappear again. He has the stealth of an expert pickpocketer and an endearing charisma that allows him to repeatedly return to his ongoing theme that trust is earned, sometimes taken for granted, and that we likely do not know when we are being conned. 

Seidman also involved the audience using tarot cards to demonstrate the power of psychology or psychic readings. Even if Siedman had background knowledge of the participants or intentionally led them down his specific line of inquiry, the outcome was still quite hair-raising. 

Even when certain parts of Siedman’s act did not seem to fit or make sense, every aspect of Good Charlatan came full circle in its final moments. The “ah-ha” cathartic moment paid off in a big way, with even the most astute audience members or amateur magicians will likely be left dumbfounded or at least impressed. Seidman reacted to more than a few opening night technology glitches like the pro that he is and used his comedic and impromptu speaking skills to keep the show going. 

However, Seidman’s most telling trick came when an audience volunteer attempted to guess in which hand Siedman placed a tissue. The audience could see the manipulation, but the participant from the audience could not. The trick sent a powerful message about perception to the audience.

Sometimes, we cannot see what is painfully apparent to those around us. Seidman eloquently closes the show with another insightful monologue discussing elements of our current post-truth society, challenging what is real and challenging our trust for those we meet, the world around us, and Siedman himself. He uses magic to prove that in order to con someone, you just have to give them a better story because people stop looking for answers when they think they have the right answer. Ultimately, Ben Siedman in Good Charlatan is a fast-paced magic show with a careful warning about the spectrum of our awareness and our level of trust in any given environment. 

As a writer for onStage Pittsburgh, I hope that I have gained your trust over the past four years. I cannot make Playbills or programs vanish and then reappear, I certainly would never pickpocket a fellow audience member (I’ve never even asked a stranger to use their phone), and I most definitely cannot read tarot cards. But as a stranger whose writing appears in your inbox or algorithm on a semi-weekly basis, I hope that I have been able to gain your trust in a meaningful way. As Siedman reminds us, we live in a world full of contention where we must question what is actually true on a daily basis. May live, local theater remain a safe space of purity, creativity, community, a few tricks and trust. 

TICKETS AND DETAILS

Liberty Magic Presents Ben Seidman in Good Charlatan now through
March 16, 2025. Tickdets at: https://trustarts.org/production/95912/ben-seidman-in-good-charlatan

Libedrty Magic is a project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Categories: Arts and Ideas

Tags: Ben Seidman in Good Charlatan, Liberty Magic, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Zoe Ruth