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"Let's Be Frank" columns
 COVER STORY
The very exclusive magic show, “Impossible Magic,” is appearing Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. in the fine dining restaurant Six Tables. The unique “in-your-face-magic” is performed by Steve Dacri, probably the world’s leading sleight of hand artist and the 2008 International Close-Up Magician of the Year.
Dacri is known as the man with “the fastest hands in the world.” The magic happens up close, the audience is limited to 30 people, and the evening includes a gourmet meal, prepared by world-renown master chef Roland Levi from Belgium. After the fine dining experience, Dacri presents a command performance of sleight of hand for an unforgettable evening.
 (Left: Movie star Sean Young is a huge fan of Steve's magic)
At $300 per person (plus tax and gratuity) it is the highest priced ticket in Las Vegas.
And just because you are seated up close, you’d think you’d be able to “catch” him at his trickery. Think again. As Johnny Carson once said about Steve’s hands, “fantastic hands, probably the best I have ever seen.”
I recently sat down with Dacri to discuss his new venture:
FHL: Is the $300 (plus tax and gratuity) going to scare off people?
 SD: Many people will be put off by the price, which is understandable. Most people come to Vegas looking for the 2-for-1 buffet tickets and discount show deals. We obviously are looking for a different market. People who are looking for a unique experience that is strictly limited by the number of seats.
However, there are those who come to Vegas and spend huge amounts of money on dinner, shows, gambling, hotel rooms and $1,000 martinis. Many pay $300 and up for bottle service at clubs ($20 bottle of vodka for $300, what a deal).
(Above: an early publicity shot of Steve, around 1973, in a custom made Oleg Cassini suit coat and a mop top.)
We are aiming for those folks, the money is no object folks, and there are plenty of those people out there, both tourists and locals.
Remember, too, that this is not just another magic show, it is a close-up magic show, and with only 30 seats, it is not going to be easy to score seats, making it a very exclusive show.
FHL: What is the cost of dinner the other nights of the week?
SD: $100 plus tax and tip, which is really a great deal for such an elegant, six-course meal prepared by Chef Roland Levi, who has been the personal chef for many celebrities, presidents and royalty over the years. The food is off the charts.
And the place is busy almost every night.
FHL: Was Six Tables the only place willing to do this with you?
SD: Two casino properties were interested, but no dinner was involved, and the financial arrangements were not attractive for me. I have done the $49 show before, not interested in doing it again. My show works best with a small audience, so the high ticket price makes this an exclusive, and hopefully, hard to get ticket.
Chef Levi approached me about doing my show in his place, as he knew I was looking for a very high-end place to present an upscale show. The idea of combining it with a gourmet meal was not something I had in mind at first, but when he proposed it (and waved a big fee in front of me) I realized it made sense, a perfect combination.
FHL: Does being off The Strip make a difference?
SD: Tourists rarely leave the Strip, so again, the ones who decide they want to experience this unique show will come. We have a deal with a limo company to bring people from the Strip, if they wish, but I think we will be seeing more locals and VIP guests of the Marriott which is just down the road from Six Tables, and perhaps from the Red Rock, also not far away.
FHL: Will it work without the usual advertising support around the city?
SD: I believe it will. Ad support in the usual places, the What’s On and Today in Vegas publications and such are geared toward the average tourist, as I mentioned before, who are clipping coupons and searching for bargains. For us to advertise in those places would be a complete waste, that is not our market.
Our ads will appear in the high end places and we plan to do a lot of TV appearances, both locally and nationally, such as the syndicated talks shows and late night shows to attract attention to the unique, hard to get tickets. As I have been on most of those shows many times over the years, we expect to return and create a buzz.
As a matter of fact, Robin Leach, who is a huge fan of my magic, bought the first tickets to show his support. He will be at the very first two nights of the show to introduce me. I am honored.
Remember, this is a unique show, not like any magic show in Vegas, it’s close-up magic, no props, just sleight of hand. The entire act fits in my pockets.
FHL: Magic doesn’t have the prominence in LV right now...do you think that'll change with Criss Angel show opens?
SD: I suspect Criss Angel will do a lot for magic in some ways, although his show is another Cirque show, a big budget production show that falls in line with the similar priced Cirque shows that now play all around the town.
FHL: How much is too much magic in Las Vegas?
SD: There was a point where every review show had a magic act and many hotels featured magic shows. For the magic lover, this was great, but it was too much magic. People rarely see more than one magic show, if any, while here. There are too many other options around, with numerous production shows and such to choose from. If I was presenting another box magic show, with the typical props and dancing girls and illusions, I don't think it would have a chance to succeed. The fact that it is a close-up magic show, where the audience can actually touch the table where the show happens, makes it very special, and not something that people can readily experience anywhere else. We're talking jaw-dropping unexplainable magic that happened inches from the crowd. It's wild, and its an experience people will not forget.
When the Hans Klok show was here (at Planet Hollywood), they couldn’t give the seats away as it was just another magic show, same as all the others, with a parade of boxes and large illusion props that had all been seen before.
FHL: Why hasn’t there been an heir to Siegfried & Roy?
SD: S&R were a special class of show, more of a circus than a magic show, big overblown illusions and set pieces. One of a kind really. Plus the personality of Siegfried was a big part of it. Hard to top what they did, as they had the unlimited budget to do the biggest magic show Vegas had ever seen. No act since has been able to match that, in terms of popularity or production value. Lance Burton comes close, but nobody else.
FHL: All the newer magic in Las Vegas seems to be daytime...why...what role does cost play in it?
SD: I am puzzled by the afternoon glut of magic shows, and clearly they will not last. First of all, they can't charge much money in the afternoon, people know they can see shows such as Mac King (the best) for the price of a drink, so they are not willing to shell out money for a magic show, no matter how big it might be. Dirk Arthur can’t fill his room, and neither can the show over at the Sahara. Nathan Burton will find it tough going, there just are not enough people who will pay big money to see an afternoon show. They have to be giveaways to fill the seats.
FHL How much has your magic changed through the years?
SD: I am constantly working on new material, it takes years to develop new things there is so much practice involved as I do not use magic props or gimmicks, just pure sleight of hand. I use a lot of the classic magic that I have been doing since learning from many of the long-since departed masters of sleight of hand. Many tricks that I did for Johnny Carson on his TV show so many years ago are still in the act because they still work.
Like a great joke, if it works, you keep it in. Many of the things I do cannot be seen anywhere else, I am the only one to do them, mainly because of the amount of time (years) it takes to perfect them. My friend David Copperfield always tells me how much he admires my show, and secretly wishes he could do a lot of the sleight of hand work so he wouldn't have to rely on the truck loads of equipment that make up his show. He always comes to see my show when I open at a new place.
Lance, too, is a big fan of my act, and Penn Jillette, Rick Thomas, Mac, they are all respectful of the work that goes into the sleight of hand and they have come to see me numerous times.
I am keeping the memory alive of the great sleight of hand magicians who came before me, most of whom the audience would not know by name, but in the magic world, they all know them, and as many were my friends as well my teachers, I feel blessed that I am able to carry on their legacy with the lost art of close-up magic.
An international stage and television performer with a unique comic style, Dacri has been appearing in Las Vegas since the early 1970s opening for Tom Jones, Bob Hope, Tony Orlando, Steve Martin, Charo and others. He spent six years headlining at Caesars Magical Empire at Caesar’s Palace, and most recently starred in his own show at the Orleans, followed by the Flamingo and Imperial Palace with his trademark type of magic called “Xtreme Close-up.”
Dacri’s road to Las Vegas and prominence began in Worcester, Mass., at age six. His parents gave him a Mandrake the Magician magic set, the bug bit him, and he’s been practicing, inventing and performing magic since.
“I grew up watching Red Skelton, Abbott & Costello, The Three Stooges, The Amazing Ballantine and Jackie Gleason. I always knew I wanted to be able to entertain people like they did,” says Dacri.
Their influence can be seen in Dacri’s comedic style and his ability to effortlessly make people laugh. By age eight, Dacri was performing magic at family gatherings, at Boy Scout banquets, school assemblies, church functions and birthday parties. At 15, headed night clubs, state fairs and company parties to the mix.
Today he is in demand all over the world, from celebrity events, private parties for royalty and presidents and at corporate events for Fortune 500 clients.
After an illustrious career spanning more than 30 years as a multitalented performer
on TV, in top clubs and resorts, cruise ships and such prestigious venues as Radio City Music Hall and the Casino de Monte Carlo, Dacri was awarded the Merlin, the equivalent of an Oscar in the magic world, naming him the 2008 International Close-up Magician of the Year. The Merlin is given each year by the International Magicians Society, the world’s largest magic organization.
Previous Merlin recipients include Siegfried & Roy, Doug Henning, David Copperfield and Chris Angel, among others.
“Impossible Magic” is presented in the Six Tables restaurant on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets priced at $300 (plus tax & gratuity) include champagne and port wine, a gourmet six-course meal followed by the performance. Tickets may be purchased at vegas.com, at any of their ticket locations or on their Web site, www.vegas.com or at www.stevedacri.com or the Six Tables, 2110 N. Rampart.
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