A few months ago I attended the opening night celebration at Cosmic Underground, a magic, mentalism and comedy theater. Recently, I returned for a full performance.

Located on the northwest side of Chicago, Cosmic Underground is owned and operated by Harrison Lampert and Kayla Drescher, who was interviewed in GT‘s Talking Travel series. Lampert and Drescher perform up-close magic and other fun in an intimate setting. The decorations are fun, including one image that is visible only with flash photography.

The show started with both performing the same card trick simultaneously, each for one side of the audience. The final twist saw them switch sides for a successful conclusion.

As Drescher left the stage, Lampert did a few solo tricks. As fascinating as that was, his ability to name every cereal mascot was simply incredible. Taking many challenges from the crowd, he knew every single one. He also merged Mad Libs with clever rope tricks.

For the last part of the show, Drescher was solo. She started with a few tricks before getting the audience involved. Prior to the show, audience members wrote song titles on cards, which then were sealed in envelopes. Through a series of unrelated questions, Drescher guessed correctly on all of the random attendees. She also included a few attendees in other bits.

The 90-minute set flowed smoothly and quickly as they mixed quirky humor with trickery. Even within feet of the stage, I did not catch any of their sleight of hand.

My magician friend Chuck gave them high praise. Although he wouldn’t reveal anything to me, he knew the secrets but was very impressed with their presentation, techniques and skills.

Cosmic Underground offers a unique mix of entertainment. They also offer magic classes, from novice to expert level. I look forward to a return visit with more friends.

— John Wroblewski, online writer