Kalin and Jinger, starring with a host of other world renown magicians, present the huge touring stage phenomenon Masters of Illusion – LIVE!
Masters of Illusion – LIVE! is currently the world’s largest touring magic and Illusion show with a cast of 29 people, three tour buses, two 53′ semi trucks and state-of-the-art mobile housing for the shows two exotic white tigers.
In 2009, New York Daily News wrote:
If people ever doubted the big surprises come in small packages, all they need to do is take a trip down the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City to check out the compact “Carnival of Wonders.” It is a knockout, a big fat magical hit and one of the funniest shows the town has seen in years. Bring Grandpa, Grandma, your aunts, your uncles and even an enemy or two. And don’t forget the kids. Hobson’s occasional double-entendres are not offensive and will probably fly over their heads. Anyway, they hear much more while surfing TV.
Natalie Reyes, 10, of Hamilton, N.J., for example, hardly blinked during the show, which she took in with her mother, Arlene. She laughed often and loud. I’m not a fan of magic shows. But this is very different. Master magicians Mark Kalin and Jinger Leigh are a lot of fun to watch as they weave their thread of a story over the 90-minute run, recalling the dazzle and excitement of how it was when the carnival came to town each summer.
From the fun house to the tunnel of love and even the house of horrors (wise guy that he is, Hobson claims the last two are really one in the same), the show takes a trip down the memory lane of your mind. Sure, there are bits you’ve seen before. Leigh disappears from a closet suspended in air. She also escapes a host of fiery torches thrust through a steel box after being locked inside. But Kalin and Leigh have several unique tricks up their sleeves that will surprise you, particularly a levitation that induces genuine awe.
Moreover, the two do their act with class. They make you feel like a friend they haven’t seen in years because a great of their magic is their charm. Leigh is not just one of Kalin’s pretty props. She is an integral part of the tricks he performs. And when was the last time you took in a magic show and saw dancing as cleverly choreographed as this, particularly by the two boys. They perform leaps that might draw Baryshnikov’s approval. (One also does a mean turn as Igor during a hilarious Dracula setup.)
But this is Hobson’s show, and he steals it as cleanly as a slick bank robber. A combination of Red Skelton, Paul Lynde and Daffy Duck rolled into one, Hobson is an outrageous punster who’ll have you roaring ith laughter while insulting you to death. Wearing an emerald-colored top hat that would make the Mad Hatter green with envy, the innuendos flash across the stage like a rainbow. He calls himself Mr. Twinkles, wear outrageously tight leotards, laughs a lot (like Lynde) and grabs a hunky twenty something for a drive in a swan car through the Tunnel of Love. But Kalin makes it a point to say that the comic is the father of the three kids.
Hobson is not half-bad at performing simple magic bits, either. But he probably wishes he had a woman like Luba from Russia in the audience every night. It took awhile for him to convince her to come up on stage–”I don’t speak much English! Please! No!”– but when she finaly did, the scene turned into a hysterically funny bit involving an egg and a cloth bag. Don’t ask. If Luba was a plant ho was in on the act, it still was one of the night’s best tricks. Still, after all of the siliness has died down and youv’e wiped the tears from your eyes after laughing so much, the show’s best moment is also the quietest. Alone on stage with a box of billiard balls, Kalin recalls the time he performed his very first trick. He was only 9 and his audience was his mother.
“I tried very hard to make them disappear and I did okay, but I dropped a few balls along the way,” says Kalin. “I told her I was sorry and would do better next time. My mother looked at me and smiled. ‘It was a masterpiece,’ she said.” SO is the “Carnival of Wonders.”
In 2001, MAGIC Magazine wrote:
“If you’re looking for a traditional magic show, my advice is stay away from the Flamingo Hilton in Reno. Kalin & Jinger’s Carnival of Wonders is less about magicians’ hardware and more about three extraordinary people who have created a truly fantastic theatrical environment. Each is responsible for a third of the magical festivities; each performers contribution is irreplaceable. It’s a tightly woven tapestry of drama and theatrics, thrills and laughter, all bound together by a shroud of mystery that ultimately produces an unforgettable evening”.
“Step right up…to the most sense-confounding extravaganza known to man! Because on this very stage, we’ve gathered up all the mysterious wonders of the world, tied them up with a neat little ribbon into a veritable carnival of illusion!”
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In the late 90s, Kalin and Jinger began creating their own productions and helped redefine the traditional concepts of a magic show. Before Your Very Eyes, Carnival of Wonders, and Illusionarium, garnered accolades throughout the entertainment industry and set records at showrooms across the United States.
Carnival of Wonders, for example, packed all the fun of a traveling carnival into an evening of entertainment, hinting at dark mysteries and deeper wonders that surround us in our everyday life. Working with comedy magician Jeff Hobson, these performances were more than critical successes, they were experiments in magic that allowed Kalin and Jinger to explore different presentations and utilize their combined skills. It was a surprising vision for a magic show, incorporating dance and character to create an emotional bond with the audience.
The Jinger Leigh Years
Jinger began taking dance lessons when she was four, and by age fifteen she was working as a professional dancer. She worked as a dance instructor while performing for companies like Disney, Fuji Television and in Southern California dinner theaters. Ms. Leigh has been involved with magic since 1991.
The Kalin & Jinger Years
At a resort in Guam she met Mark Kalin, and was instantly impressed by his magic and his rapport with the audience. As they began working together, Jinger became an integral part of the show. From the start, I realized that those standard “magician and assistant” roles just didn’t fit us, Mark explains. We had to find a special combination that made the most of our performances and created our own sort of magic. Their signature illusions, the Fire Spiker, Circle of Fire, and their amazing Sawing in Half illusion combined with a unique performing style quickly earned them a reputation among audiences and professional magicians alike.
In the mid 90s, they began creating their own shows. “Before Your Very Eyes,” “Carnival of Wonders,” and “Illusionarium,” garnered accolades throughout the entertainment industry and set records at showrooms across the United States. Working with comedy magicians Jeff Hobson and Mark Kornhhauser, these performances were more than critical successes; they were experiments in magic that allowed Kalin and Jinger to explore different presentations and utilize their combined skills. Carnival of Wonders, for example, packed all the fun of a traveling carnival into an evening of entertainment, hinting at dark mysteries and deeper wonders that surround us in our everyday life. It was a surprising vision for a magic show, incorporating dance and character to create an emotional bond with the audience. When their show came to Reno, Nevada, it was voted the city’s best production, and audiences returned again and again. In the summer of 2008, Kalin & Jinger returned to Atlantic City with their newest production, “Real Magic”.
Whether appearing on network television, at the most exclusive, high-powered corporate functions, or within the framework of their own theatrical stage productions, Mark Kalin & Jinger Leigh are respected around the world as powerful performers and creative, trend-setting producers.
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The Mark Kalin Years
Mark wanted to be a puppeteer until one day, at age 9, when he looked on a shelf at the library and found a book on magic. ?I enjoyed the puppets, but the idea of magic really intrigued me. I tried to do a few tricks and found out it was something that I could master?. Ten years later, as a young man, he was recognized as one of the top magicians in the world. Kalin performed around the globe, bringing his innovative routines to theaters, casinos and clubs.
That was when he met a performer named Jinger Leigh. Jinger had taken dance lessons when she was four, and by age fifteen she was working as a professional dancer. She worked for companies like Disney, Fuji Television and in Southern California dinner theaters. At a resort in Guam she met Mark Kalin, and was instantly impressed by his magic and his rapport with the audience.
The Kalin & Jinger Years
As they began working together, Jinger became an integral part of the show?. ?From the start, I realized that those standard ?magician?and?assistant? roles just didn?t fit us,? Mark explains.? ?We had to find a special combination that made the most of our performances and created our own sort of magic.? Their signature illusions?the Fire Spiker, Circle of Fire, and their amazing Sawing in Half illusion?combined with a unique performing style quickly earned them a reputation among audiences and professional magicians alike.
In the 90s, they began creating their own shows. ?Before Your Very Eyes,? ?Carnival of Wonders,? and ?Illusionarium,? garnered accolades throughout the entertainment industry and set records at showrooms across the United States. Working with comedy magicians Jeff Hobson and Mark Kornhhauser, these performances were more than critical successes; they were experiments in magic that allowed Kalin and Jinger to explore different presentations and utilize their combined skills. ?Carnival of Wonders,? for example, packed all the fun of a traveling carnival into an evening of entertainment, hinting at dark mysteries and deeper wonders that surround us in our everyday life. It was a surprising vision for a magic show, incorporating dance and character to create an emotional bond with the audience. When their show came to Reno, Nevada, it was voted the city?s best production, and audiences returned again and again. In the summer of 2008, Kalin & Jinger returned to Atlantic City with their newest production, ?Real Magic?.
Whether appearing on network television, at the most exclusive, high-powered corporate functions, or within the framework of their own?theatrical?stage productions, Mark Kalin & Jinger Leigh are respected around the world as powerful performers and creative, trend-setting producers.
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On February 17th, 2001, Kalin and Jinger made magic history by presenting the largest stage illusion in the world the disappearance of an American Airlines jumbo jet at the Reno Hilton. The illusion was presented, nightly, for over two years. It was the climax of their critically acclaimed Carnival of Wonders, and was witnessed by over a half-a-million people.
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