There are two adults-only magic shows running in the same small theatre at the Miracle Mile Shops, and they're close to opposites despite sharing a stage, a running time and an age limit. One is performed by a magician who's genuinely good and tells jokes you wouldn't repeat at work. The other is performed by a magician whose act is failing at magic, on purpose, without ever admitting it. You'll know within about ten seconds which of those is your night.
An R-Rated Magic Show
An R-Rated Magic Show is a real magic show that happens to be filthy, which is a harder thing to pull off than it sounds. Grant Freeman does classic and modern illusions properly and runs adult stand-up between them, so the comedy is the seasoning rather than the meal. If your idea of a good night is being fooled and then being made to laugh at something you would not repeat to your mother, this is the one. It's listed at 18 and over, though the venue frames that as a strong recommendation rather than a door policy, so use your own judgment about who you bring.
An R-Rated Magic Show | V4 Theater, Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood | 75 minutes | 18 and over
Lioz Comedy Magic Uncensored
Lioz is doing something stranger and, when it lands, funnier. Lioz Shem Tov is an Israeli comedian who has taken this act through America's Got Talent and its All-Stars season, plus the British and Australian versions, and the act is a magician of enormous confidence whose tricks go wrong. Deliberately, elaborately wrong, played with a completely straight face. The comedy is in the commitment, because he'll never once acknowledge that anything has failed. There is heavy audience participation, so the front rows are a live risk, and no two nights run the same because the crowd changes the show.
Lioz Comedy Magic Uncensored | V4 Theater, Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood | 75 minutes | 18 and over
Check Lioz Comedy Magic Uncensored
Which one to book
Pick by what you want to happen to you. If you want to be genuinely fooled and the rude jokes are a bonus, take the R-Rated show. If you'd rather watch a man fail spectacularly for 75 minutes while insisting he hasn't, take Lioz. Groups tend to do better with Lioz, because the audience participation hands everyone something to talk about afterward, while couples and anyone who genuinely likes magic usually prefer Freeman's. Neither is remotely suitable for children whatever the door policy says. For magic that works with families and daylight, our guides to small-room magic and afternoon magic shows cover the other end of the scale, and the main magic roundup has the big productions.
