Dennis Michael has something up his sleeve.
The magician/comedian is full of tricks, actually. Though he prefers the terms “effect” or “routine” over “trick.”
“The word ‘trick’ infers that you’re fooling someone,” he says. “What I do is entertain people.”
Michael, 42, has been entertaining people with his magic routines since grade school, when he first picked up “Mark Wilson’s Cyclopedia of Magic.”
The Denver resident started performing at different posts while serving as a combat photographer in the Army and worked as a booking agent for restaurant entertainers once he settled back into civilian life. Michael performs for special events, parties, restaurants and the occasional live show.
Today he will share a matinee and evening performance with Haywire the Entertainer at the Parker Mainstreet Center Theater.
“It’s really your personality and style that make you successful,” Michael says of being a magician. His own retro style is nostalgic, with a nod to such influential entertainers as Buster Keaton and Harry Anderson.
“Once you find your style,” he says, “it’s an exaggeration of things you already are.”
Some performers choose a serious, classic style of magic, for instance. Others go for showy illusions or intricate effects. Michael’s performances meld magic with comedy.
One of his signature routines involves a straightjacket escape, a card trick, and comedy all rolled into one. Two audience members join him on stage to inspect the jacket and shuffle the cards. “The presentation of the props is an important step,” Michael says.
One helper then selects a card and reshuffles the deck. The idea is that Michael will then choose the correct card — awkwardly — with his teeth while restrained.
The joke is on Michael when he can’t produce the correct card, and he dances his way out of the straightjacket to the “Hokey Pokey.” After his escape, he bows and — presto! — produces the correct card, which has been hidden in his mouth all along.
“I’m an inventor,” says Michael, who creates his own effects. “But there really isn’t anything new under the sun.”
Rather than truly inventing a new trick, Michael looks for creative ways to update old tricks.
“I might try to dump out a bag of goldfish crackers,” he says, “and then pull out a live goldfish.”
Many professional magicians could likely figure out how to perform one of his signature routines. But, he says, there is an unspoken code of conduct among magicians.
“Magicians can be horrible about intellectual property,” Michael says. “You should get permission if (a routine) is out on the market. If you pick it up from someone and do it yourself, that’s pretty rude.”
Some magicians actually sell tricks to each other, and others are available at high-end magic stores. “High price tags keep some tricks in professional circles, rather than making them accessible to the hobbyist,” Michael says.
But there are oldies-but-goodies like rope tricks, cups-and-balls routines, and card tricks, all of which were developed during the “golden age of magic” around the turn of the last century.
“Magicians,” Michael says, “have a real respect for those who came before us.”
“Magic Schmagic”
Dennis Michael performs in this show under the name 2Hatz. He will share the stage with magician and juggler Haywire the Entertainer. These shows are recommended for adults and children 5 and up.
When: Today at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Where: Parker Mainstreet Center, 9650 E. Mainstreet, Parker
Tickets: $12 at or 303-621-6903. 2Hatz also performs Aug. 8 at the Broomfield Auditorium (303-464-5835).
