Helder Guimaraes is a talented, earnest magician.  His moves are smooth, his presentation solid.  He holds forth on a set stacked with crates and memorabilia.  He ties his illusions to his memories, lessons learned, a self examined life and lessons learned.  His patter, at least to my ears, was less interesting than his magic.

All magicians, including myself, create a character to wrap around the tricks we perform.  It is more like acting than a civilian might imagine.  My early magic was modeled after my mentor, Henry “Doc” Johnson.  He was terrific and very talented but cloaked his magic in a gee whiz, I goofed, no I didn’t, isn’t that amazing, southern charm persona.  He was fun to watch and both kids and adults loved his shows.  I took up the bumbling but ultimately successful character for my own work.  This evolved slowly into a smoother presentation, especially when I performed as a Merlin kind of character at themed carnivals.  My most recent magic is mostly done at Polaris North where I host and beg for donations through the various illusions.

But Helder has a unique style that adds to his aura of childish amazement.  His technique is excellent.  Any time I watch a magic performance I am watching three things:
1) Can I detect the method
2) How well does the magician frame his work
3) Can I use some of his tricks in my act?

I caught the method about 50% of the time because all magic is based on the same principals, just depends on how well it is presented.  His act and persona are engaging and fun to watch.  I can adapt just a couple of his works into my act.  His work is very well suited to his personality on stage.

I HIGHLY recommend his act, whether you catch it here in New York (where I think he runs at least through December) or if he takes it to other cities.  You will have a good time. Go see it.