Experience Reza – Edge of Illusion, a “rock concert meeting a magic show” kind of performance that is keeping audiences engaged, entertained and coming back for more! Reza is a talented and world renowned magician and illusionist who has performed across 31 countries worldwide and toured all over the United States. Reza has additionally made several appearances on popular reality shows and media platforms over the years such as MTV, A & E’s Duck Dynasty, CBS, NBC, Netflix, YouTube, Fox Sports, PBS, Showtime, CW and Hulu!
From start to finish, this spectacular show has captivated audiences of all ages again and again with groundbreaking illusions, daring acts and hilarious audience participation as volunteers take the stage with Reza to help pull off amazing feats of magic and illusion. The days of pulling a rabbit out of a hat are left behind to make way for this cutting edge magician!
We sat down with Reza recently to talk about the show and began at the beginning – during a time when a young boy from South Dakota first became interested in the art of magic and how he ended up in Branson, Missouri.
” I’m going into my seventh season at Branson,” Reza started. ” When I started to get more serious about doing magic, I came to Branson for mentorship. I came for opportunities of doing opening acts for different shows. After doors started opening, and the show started developing, I started looking for a permanent home. Branson made a lot of sense to come back to.”
Reza went on to say he had plans to tour this year overseas and in the U.S. , but with COVID-19 hitting hard this year, the theater took all of those dates as opportunities to do more shows in Branson.” We started adding to our schedule,” Reza said, ” so it’s worked out good from that standpoint. Branson is unlike anywhere else in the world right now. They’re still taking precautions but able to still have a little bit of normal life and entertainment which is a big part of what people need right now. It’s been a great year amidst a lot of challenges.”
Despite such challenges, the Branson Famous Theater has worked hard to maintain social distancing, ensure extreme sanitation measures are met, and ultimately “provide an environment for everybody to come and enjoy something together as one and do it safely.”
From the get-go, Reza said he wanted total creative control over the magic and illusion show so he could build the performance from the ground up and make the show all the more unique and memorable.
“Early on, I wanted to build the show myself from the ground up where it would be tempting to take on a business partner to help fast track that, but I never did that,” Reza said. “I stayed within my means and just built slowly. By doing that, I’m able to what’s in my heart and what I feel is genuine to me and my brand and myself. I think the trade off is people can connect to that and that’s where we build that bond throughout the show. You’re not just watching the show like its’ on a movie screen. The audience is a part of the show. It’s as if it’s just us and them and they feel like that connectivity so that – by the end of the performance – all people will go away with a feeling like we’re friends.”
Many audience members have claimed Reza’s approach to magic is so unique that it’s ultimately changing their perception of magic. Reza said during the interview he wants to make magic relatable to others by using every day objects people can recognize, such as an Oreo cookie or something even bigger like a motorbike. Many individuals have a motorcycle in their garage right now and know it is very heavy to move or lift from the ground – a fact that makes the illusion of a full-scale motorbike disappear out of thin air all the more impressive.
“Once people recognize that about the object, it makes the illusion not only impressive, it also draws you into it,” Reza explained. ” It makes you care about it. Even the simple things can really take off when you do it with something people care about.”
To further engage audiences, Reza told us the performance changes regularly so, even if you’ve seen the show before, there is always a new and refreshing element to behold even if its two shows in the same day.
“The show changes every night just based on the amount of audience participation,” Reza said. ” Of course, we still have the hits and the staples and the things that people expect to see and even those we try to change and freshen up over time along with the induction of new, cutting edge things. Just ongoing, we’re trying to create and develop new, new, new. It’s important for me to have people come back and catch them in those unexpected moments.”
And unexpected moments there are! Every turn of Reza’s performance holds a surprise molded with a dash of humor, some fun impromptu and the unexpected wonders and feats of magic and illusion alike. Reza said the Edge of Illusion show is a performance “I want Grandparents to be able to bring their grandchildren to and both are equally entertained. Just every age, every interest level in magic even. Obviously, if you love magic, you’ll like the show but even if you don’t like magic, I think you’ll be equally entertained and surprised at how much you get out of the show as it has much more depth to it than just a bunch of appear and disappear.”
When asked about his personal favorite part of the show, Reza said it’s whatever is new as he is the most receptive to what the audience feels. ” I adjust things every single night so something is always new. Even if it’s just a small tweak I’ll do that for months and months until I’m happy with it.”
When not performing out of the Branson Famous Theater, Reza has gone out in the community of Branson to do up-close street magic and has even partnered with charity organizations such as The God’s CHILD Project which provided a large number of meals for a school in Haiti where the kids didn’t have a place to eat lunch.
Reza said the show will go on next year with over 245 shows on their schedule which will initiate Spring Break. Reza has also aided in raising funds for other charitable organizations such at The Red Cross, Boys & Girls Club, The United Way, and Kid’s In The Middle to name a few.
“As far as tours go,” Reza answered when asked if he would continue traveling abroad, “we have to see what kind of state the world is in and, we’ll be ready for whatever it is.”
For more information on shows in Branson, Missouri, give us a call at (866) 876-4339, and ask how to secure the best tickets at the lowest prices! Find out more about Branson Travel Packages, Shows, Attractions & more on our site here.
