Arts

Can Donald Trump Disappear from his Twitter Photo?

By  | 

What if the Campbell soup can mysteriously disappeared from Warhol’s painting? Or Donald Trump disappeared from his Twitter photo?

One man can make that happen.

Vitaly Beckman is a master illusionist, and winner of Penn & Teller’s popular TV show Fool Us, and and he’s in the midst of his 2017-18 international tour.

But his path to success was anything but ordinary.

Vitaly grew up in Belarus, a small landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast and Ukraine to the south. He’ll be the first to tell you about discovering a love of magic at an early age—a nostalgic highlight for him was tricking his grandmother by waiting patiently with a cloth suspended over several blocks such that when she turned the corner into the room, he would “magically” make them appear. But while that interest continued to develop as he grew older, Vitaly didn’t think to make it into a career.

Instead, he took a practical and financially safe route and became a mechanical engineer. Still, the magic of performance and illusion wouldn’t leave his head, so finally he decided to risk it all for a chance to follow his passions and head overseas to North America. He settled in Vancouver, and through sheer tenacity and dedication, he carved out a successful place for himself in the world of magic and illusion.

Fast forward to 2017, when Vitaly is touring college campuses and opera houses alike, corporate gigs and morning shows, with an illusion show populated by wholly original tricks that not only awe audiences, but involve them. 

Vitaly’s performances revolve around drawings, paintings, and photos that literally come off the page to life, a paintbrush that paints on its own, an audience member’s driver’s license that suddenly shows someone else. Vitaly makes the audience feel like they’re a part of the performance, and not simply passive observers—his work is grounded in the psychology of human nature and perception, and thus is art not merely a trick.

Vitaly’s goal in all of this is to bring the wonder of everyday life that we experience as children back into our adult lives. Especially now when the global environment is fraught with divisive challenges, Vitaly looks to reframe our world by inspiring our imaginations and bringing back our sense of pure delight.

We don’t know about you, but that sounds like exactly what we need.

Check out Vitaly’s work and get tickets to a show near you at eveningofwonders.com 

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply