Imagine coming to a magical show where it is dreadfully quiet in a completely full theatre room before the start of the performance. In this silence it is possible to hear the breathing of a person sitting on your right, and the heartbeat of another person situated on your left. The stage is brightly lit. Two chairs, a table and a mystical box, where the audience were asked to put in their questions regarding their future before the show, conveniently found their places in the middle as well as in the right low corner of the stage. The light goes off and then comes back on. A second later, a smiling magician (Travis Bernhardt) appears in front of the audience. It is still quiet in the theatre. People’s wondering gazes are directed towards the stage. It is obvious that all of them await some magic to come their way…
“This show does not have a structure…Or an ending.” With these words Travis Bernhardt opened his “Charlatan!” show. What he meant was that in order to fully embrace the experience of this particular spectacle it was important for the audience members to be blank like a piece of paper, not knowing or pretending to know what to expect out of, but, rather trust the magician to guide them through it.
Since the first part of the act, it becomes clear that the show does not lead anywhere. There is no particular storyline but rather a consequential series of episodic interactions occurring between Travis and the audience members one on one. It simply feels very intimate and peaceful, especially, during the moments when Travis establishes trustworthy relationship with specific audience members. He uses his soothing tone of voice, confident body language and posture, several guessing in combination with various story telling techniques to creatively articulate his ideas in order to help any audience member to open up and help him to make “Charlatan!” show really a spectacular experience.
Through his kind of therapeutic approach, Travis literally makes a man from the audience to open up about him wanting to move in with his girlfriend, who is sitting right beside him. That man looks nervous, his body posture is closed and his face is red probably because he cannot not believe how amazing Travis is at guessing the details of his moving in issue. Another lady at the back of the theatre, thanks to Travis’s questions, gets encouraged to propose her boyfriend to marry her right there, in front of everybody in the theatre. That is another truly incredible moment when two souls fully in love with each other decide to make a serious commitment, thus, making “Charlatan!” show even more magical and special.
Travis’s flow of thoughts is fun, yet, true and logical at the same time, which makes people to fully engage, listen and follow his lead. “Fortunetelling – is illegitimate use of power (Bernhardt)” and it is up to us to change the outcome of our lives; Travis says to a nine-year-old girl, who put a piece of paper with a question who will I become when I grow up, in that magical box before the start of the show. Travis does not say to her she would be a doctor or a businesswoman. He smartly tells her that she could be what she wants to be, get what she wants to get, be happy and have multiple passions because that’s simply a norm.
Overall, “Charlatan!” show is a well thought, simple, yet topical performance. It is funny, engaging, and enlightening for the audience because people need something to believe in. Let it be magic, fortunetelling, faith, signs from the universe, coincidences or anything else for that matter. With current pace of living people sometimes forget about slowing down, doing things they deeply want to do, take risks in the situations they are otherwise afraid to act on. “Never pay somebody to help you feel better or help you make your decisions (Bernhardt)” said Travis at the end of the show. And, surprisingly, his major lesson for the audience to take away from it was to find a hero within yourself, believe in, cherish and trust, love, respect and take care of him. Therefore, “Charlatan!” is a remarkable magical performance with a twitch of life wisdom in it.