Dan White Makes Intimate Illusions Larger Than Life as ‘The Magician’

Tony Sokol

Mentalist magic is all in your head. The art form encourages mind over matter because the mind doesn’t matter, and if you asked it, matter wouldn’t mind. But the mind actually matters quite a bit to Dan White, who inhabits the title character of “The Magician,” an “intimate evening of magic, mystery, and deception” playing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at The NoMad Hotel in New York.

For the show, White worked with theory11, “an alliance of the most respected creators, performers, and consultants in the magic industry,” according to their Facebook page. The group, and White, are on the short list of some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Saturday Night Live and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, for all prestidigitation needs.

White has been making magic professionally for over 20 years, but he has been working at the craft since he was nine years old. That’s when he hung up an old poster of the magician Harry Kellar and started dabbling with a magic set he got from his father. White specializes in close-up magic, but with a Fine Arts background, he’s managed to bring that intimacy to a larger stage. Not that the space at the NoMad Hotel is that large, the room only seats 72 people.

White transformed the backdrop for Kanye West’s 2014 YEEZUS tour as a creative consultant. He was also the on-site consultant for iconic illusionist David Copperfield’s shows at the MGM Grand Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

White traveled the world to spotlight how magic is seen in other cultures on the Discovery Channel special “The Supernaturalist.” He also starred in “White Magic” on the Travel Channel, produced the magic for David Blaine’s 2 hour special “Drowned Alive” for ABC in 2006, and was the Head Magic Producer for Blaine’s “Dive of Death” prime time special in 2008. He worked on the Warner Brothers fim “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” creating the “Hangman Illusion” along with David Copperfield’s design team.

Stars like Neil Patrick Harris, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian West, Jimmy Fallon, Questlove, Aziz Ansari, and Jesse Eisenberg have been known to show up as guests for “The Magician.”

“The Magician” is playing at New York’s NoMad Hotel through Aug. 24, 2019 with more dates to be added.