Mac King Comedy Magic Show

Making magic happen...with Fig Newtons

By Caroline Fontein

“Howdy,” says Mac King as he greets his guests at his afternoon comedy magic show at Harrah’s. His plaid suit and Southern charm set the mood for a delightful afternoon of quirky jokes and mind boggling magic.

He starts the show with a rope trick. King folds and cuts the rope yet it never seems to change in length. Along with just doing his illusions, King is constantly joking with audience, making the show a perfect blend of comedy infused with clever magic tricks.

King gets a woman from the audience to help him with a card trick on stage. While shuffling through the cards he asks the woman, “You ever do any babysitting? Will you go sit on that baby?” His tongue-in-cheek response to a crying baby in the audience makes everyone laugh.

Another quirky part of the show is the Fig Newtons that King infuses into many of his acts as another offbeat humorous element to his illusions. When he is supposed to pull out a card from his pocket, a Fig Newton appears. It’s a truly sweet surprise that adds to the delightful absurdity of his tricks.

“It’s time to go camping,” announces King and then asks for the “bravest kid here.” He walks into the audience and finds a 12-year-old boy to assist on stage. Part of their camping excursion involves a fishing sequence where the boy is asked to hold a glass filled with water while King assembles his fishing rod.

Fig Newtons appear on stage again but this time as bait that King attaches to his fish hook, and in seconds he manages to catch a live goldfish in mid-air.

An everyday yellow raincoat becomes the “Cloak of Invisibility,” when King does a hilarious enactment of floating on stage and making haunting sounds as though he were invisible for a card trick with a newlywed couple. Even though he does not exactly “disappear” while wearing the “magical cloak” he accomplishes an astounding illusion that seems only possible if the cloak had indeed rendered him invisible.

The different audience participants and their reactions to his outrageous comedy and illusions on stage make the show unpredictable and exciting. There’s no telling what he will do next.

“Every day the show is different because of the people who come up,” said King.

For beer fans in the house, his most astonishing feat might be when he makes an actual bottle of Coors Light materialize under a red handkerchief that he then hands to a male audience member.

This really is an afternoon comedy and magic show that everyone can enjoy.

“It’s terrifically fun!” said Helen Sax, an audience member from Las Vegas. “I’ll be back and bring my friends.”