A few months back we talked with magician Vinny DePonto on the podcast, and he let slip a new project he was working on.
It was to be a home for magicians in New York City, one that weaved a storyline into the chicanery. And yes, it was going to be immersive.
Since then DePonto has gone live with the project on Kickstarter, and with just two weeks out in the campaign they are closing in on their goal. We talked to DePonto via email, and he somehow managed to answer amidst the bustle of a crowdfunding campaign.
No Proscenium: So you’ve gone and done it: you’ve launched the Kickstarter, are you excited, nervous?
Vinny DePonto: We’re both! Excited at the idea of getting this thing on it’s feet. But nervous because it isn’t easy asking for help. But having seen the incredible support so far, it’s taken a lot of the worry out of it. We’re mostly just anxious to open the show.
NP: We’ve talked on the podcast about how magic is the “original immersive theatre,” and in the Kickstarter video you say you want to make a “good” immersive magic show. Sooooo… what is going to make this show a good one?
VD: The goal is to make a great piece of magic and a great piece of fun and engaging immersive theatre. Not to allow either to act as a mediocre gimmick. This is a huge challenge for us. Mostly because it requires some actors to learn about the challenges of performing magic and for the magicians to readjust to some news ways of performing. So, we’re all learning. To us, making a “good” magic/immersive experience is focusing on the details and the story.
NP: What’s been your collaboration process with Minute Zero?
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VD: So far, the process has been wonderful. They’re so incredibly smart and hard working. We’re learning so much from each other. We started by researching the life of Tesla (which one of our characters is loosely based on). Then we branched out and started working on the various tracks and how small groups of audience members will see the ongoings of the club that night. Now we’re refining the story and bringing magicians in to create scenes around their acts. We’re hoping to test it all out very soon and just keep refining and tweaking from there. We’re all bringing different skills to this and learning from each other. It’s all very thrilling.
NP: In magic, and in immersive, the devil is often in the details — how many layers of work is going into The Conjuror’s Club?
VD: I can’t tell you how many acts I’ve seen where the little details are missed. People notice. Same with immersive. For us, it’s really important. But it’s also important to try imperfect things. So for this first iteration we’re definitely adding some layers. But if and when we have a bit more money and a space of our own we’d like to really dive deep and add many more elements that will help realize the world I see in my mind.
NP: The comparisons to The Magic Castle in LA invite themselves, so how is this different from that classic magic experience?
VD: This project has the soul of the castle and the heart of NYC theatre. It’s been a long time coming for an “East Coast Castle” and many have tried. I think the main difference here is we’re approaching from a fresh angle. I’d like people to see a lot of great magic in new and unconventional ways. I’m curious what it’s like for an audience member to sit down with a magician one on one in a secret nook of the club. We’re exploring rare acts too like, if we raise enough money we’d like to bring back acts audiences haven’t seen in hundreds of years — like the Learned Pig.
NP: This campaign is all about getting the show off the ground — how long of a run would the $18K goal give you?
VD: These funds are for two performances in early October. The way things are going we’ll likely add more in November and December.
NP: Looking past the initial run: what’s the dream?
VD: The goal is to find a producer/investor/lover-of-magic interested in making this a a more regular (or permanent) show/venue in Manhattan. We’d like to turn it into an actual club while still running an immersive experience regularly. You could either get a ticket to the show or just bring a date to the bar and watch some amazing magicians up-close.
As of publication time the Kickstarter campaign was less than $3,000 shy of its goal.
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