For Immediate Release
August 27, 2015
Contact: Sherry Lutz 412-784-1115 sherry@gertner.com
Local Magician Shares Secrets & Sells Out in China
China has been in the news a lot this summer and a local man has been there to see it all first hand. Paul Gertner a nationally recognized magician from Pittsburgh is one of four performers invited by the Chinese government, on a 7-week performance tour of 30 cities in China. Starting at the beginning of July in Beijing he has now been to 27 cities in China with just 3 more to go before he and his wife Kathryn return back to their home in Pittsburgh at the beginning of September.
The 95 minute show which translates into English as “The Secret That Cannot Be Told: Magic Show.” Is playing in 31 different Poly Theaters which are huge government owed venues… each theater with 1500-2000 seats… and the shows are selling out!
There are 33 shows on tour with a few cities holding two shows due to the demand. The unique aspect of the show it that it is a Sleight-of-Hand Magic Show with the magic projected on huge high-resolution video screens to make it visible for the large audiences who attend. As Paul said: “When the screens are this large and this high-res, a close-up shot of your hand can be 40 feet tall. If the trick require you to hide a coin or a card in your hand, you better to do it perfectly… there’s no margin for error.”
Paul Gertner, the closing act on the four-person, show is recognized by magicians as one of the leading sleight-of-hand in the world today. He has won The World Champion Title in sleight-of-hand magic at the Olympics of Magic in Madrid, Spain, First Place in the $20,000 Las Vegas Sleight-of-Hand Challenge, has been named Magician of the Year three times by the Magic Castle in Hollywood, appeared multiple times on NBC’s Tonight show and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. He has also published his original magic routines in his book for magicians titled: Paul Gertner: Steel & Silver, a best selling book in the magic world which explains why in every city there are so many Chinese magicians coming to the show and waiting backstage to get and autograph, take their photo with Paul and sometimes show him a magic trick of their own invention.
Paul Gertner normally performs at trade shows and corporate events in the US and around the world but the opportunity to perform in such very large theaters with state of the art video technology was an opportunity too good to pass up. Also the chance to do what very few people will ever do, travel, experience and explore over 30 cities in China was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“China is not what I expected at all.” says Paul. “The three thing that hit me the most were 1. Construction, 2. Scale, and 3. Chinese Drivers.” The first thing you notice flying into any city is the amount of construction going on. Not just a few building, but hundreds of 30-story tall apartment buildings in clusters of 15-20 in each group. And that is repeated in every city we go to. The second thing is scale… everything is larger like the airports. So far we’ve been in 10 airports and every one of them was 3 to 5 times larger than airports in major American cities. The third thing you notice are the drivers. It’s almost as if there are no rules on the road… and you have to be alert because the silent electric motorbikes come at you from all directions… even on the sidewalks and YOU are expected to get out of THEIR way or else!”
The four-person magic show consists of friends Paul has known, some for over 40 years. Richard Turner is one of the leading gambling experts in the world, who also happens to be blind. Richard has been teaching Paul his special gambling moves with a deck of cards and with 8-hour bus rides between cities Paul is finding plenty of time to practice. Christopher Hart’s right hand was made famous as “Thing” in the Addams Family Movies is doing his unique manipulation act to music to the delight of the audiences. And Mike Miller from Philadelphia, who is the American producer, does a 30-minute set for all the kids in the audience bringing them onstage with lots of laughter and audience participation. Paul closes the show with six of his original creations from his one-man theater show TrickFlicks, a show in which his world class sleight-of-hand magic is projected onto the large silver screen using the new high resolution video cameras. While Paul designed TrickFlicks for older movie theater venues across the United States that have upgraded their technology to digital…but who knows this new video concept may even find a place in one of the larger Las Vegas showrooms in the future.
After each show all the performers spend 45-minutes signing autographs out in the lobby while the crew packs up the show and loads it on the bus for the next stop on the tour. Paul’s wife Kathryn has taken a break from her job as a middle school teacher and signed on for the entire tour. “Kathryn has been a critical part of the show working back-stage, preparing and setting the props for my 25-minute act in place and then she repacks the show while I’m out in the lobby with the other performers. I would not have considered doing this tour on my own… and it has been fun to experience China together.”
Now with only 5 days and three more shows to go everyone is looking forward to going home, exhausted, but with great memories. “The people in China have been great, the food has been amazing and the hotels were all 4-star or better… I have to admit I was really surprised at many things” Paul said. “And we were traveling to some rather remote cities where they don’t often see an American. Just today while sight-seeing at a museum three people stopped me and asked to get a photo with me… not because I was a magician, but because I was an American.”
You can see a high quality videoclip of some of the magic Paul Gertner is performing on the China Magic Tour by going to Paul’s Youtube Channel: https://youtu.be/5hiKH1CzviI
The Show Poster advertising the show.
Brand New Poly Theater in Shang Hai. We were the first magic act to play this theater.
The magicians in the show and the producer. Richard Turner, Christopher Hart, Mike Miller Paul Gertner & Mrs. Jian.
Chinese Pizza… Yes those are chicken wings.
A monk at the Temple taking my photo… so I took his at the same time.
Strange Green Algae washing up on the beach. People were still swimming.
One of the thirty theaters we performed in… all where 1,500 to 2,000 seats.
Some video screens were 70′ across… simply huge and high def.
Paul & Kathryn Gertner setting the props for the show backstage.
The performers signing autographs at a private school that bought out the entire theater.
At Mount Putuo on the island off Zhoushan China.
For downloadable Video Clips of Paul Gertner’s Magic Show go to: https://youtu.be/5hiKH1CzviI
You can also download high res photos of Paul Gertner here: https://gertner.com/download-photos/
