Nikki KreuzerDown a dark alleyway in downtown Los Angeles, as the warm Santa Ana winds blow mysteries into the October evening, an encounter between chance and chaos await. Red Thread, a magic show of mind-bending depth, unravels the assumption that we are in control and entertains possibilities of fate and choice. Presented by Atlas Obscura, international purveyors of the weird, wild and wonderful, the show runs six performances a week thru Nov. 10, providing a perfect night out for the season.
Magician Siegfried Tieber, long, lanky, with expressive dark eyes and coal black kinky hair, stands before an intimate audience limited to 34 people, imploring each of them to make a decision “Every time we flip a coin, we create two possible outcomes — there is a fork in the road, if you will. ”
(Will Haraldson)
“Rolling a die opens six doors, shuffling a deck of cards creates more possibilities than the human mind can imagine. Every outcome is the starting point of further possibilities,” Tieber continues. “It doesn’t take long before this starts to look like a labyrinth: some paths converge, some run parallel to each other, some are dead ends. Like the Greek mythological princess, Ariadne — who gave Theseus a thread when he entered the labyrinth — my hope is to take the audience with me and guide them through this journey.”
Tieber — witty, likable and distinct in a fitted charcoal suit complete with crimson carnation on its lapel — involves audience members in 90-minutes of trickery, at once befriending and amazing his smiling groups using simple magic concepts to make people ponder the idea of repercussions.
No stranger to the magical arts, the performer even baffled esteemed slight of hand experts Penn & Teller in 2017 on their TV series Penn & Teller: Fool Us. He was selected the following year as “The Best Magic Show in New York City” by Time Out NY. A member of the prestigious Magic Castle, Hollywood’s private club of honored tricksters, Tieber was born and raised in Ecuador and has practiced and honed his skills internationally. With an accent both charming and engaging, he turns the tables on reality, creating an atmosphere of amiable enchantment.
(Will Haraldson)
“Right here, right now,” he addresses the seated audience, “each and every one of you has the potential to change the course we are going tonight.” And as he begins his spellbinding perplexity, it is clearly confounded by chance, which makes what he does even more amazing.
Co-written by Jared Kopf and art directed by Jon Armstrong, both well-respected in the world of magic, the journey of Red Thread starts with a descent down a wooden staircase, through an eclectic art space created by shoe designer Paul Kaufman and leads to two rows of chairs and a cat’s cradle of red thread weaving its way along the walls. The audience grows accustomed to the room, orders some beverages and gets comfortable. When Tieber emerges, friendly and outgoing, the evening evolves into an experiment in illusion with everyone included.
The red thread is meant to represent the entanglement of our decisions and how they can determine our destiny, and the interactive experience will make you question both. Things can go in any direction and paths will diverge, but they also come back together and overlap, making for an evening of wizardry and mystification. It all ends on a relaxed note, with everyone exiting back through the deserted alley, where the winds outside continue to hold unsolved mysteries in a city full of adventures that, as Red Thread reminds us, might or might not be within our control.
Red Thread runs Nov. 10 (six shows each week), at PS Kaufman Gallery, 113 E 8th St. Downtown. Times, dates and tickets at atlasobscura.com/