When Vitaly Beckman was 7 years old he saw a magician on television make a card castle appear. Years later it was he who was on television performing magic.
Beckman is among the magicians who fooled Penn Jillette and Teller on their TV show “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” which kicks off Season 8 on Oct. 1 on the CW.
“They gave me my big break on national television. It was very exciting. I never met them before. I performed this illusion of making a photograph come to life and they were fooled by it,” said Beckman, who first appeared on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” in 2016 during Season 3.
“I tried to make sure it was very entertaining. Even though you need to fool Penn & Teller, you also want to share with the audience something magical. It got a great response. Millions of people watched that segment.
“I have emails and people contact me from all over the world about that particular piece I performed so it was a really great experience.”
Beckman brings an interactive experience to audiences through Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders on Sept. 25 at Moraine Valley Community College’s Fine & Performing Arts Center’s Dorothy Menker Theater in Palos Hills.
“My show is all about bringing art to life and sharing it with an audience,” said Beckman, who performed Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders for a 16-week off-Broadway run in 2018 at New York’s Westside Theatre where Penn & Teller first opened their show more than 30 years ago.
“I’m trying to make it immersive. Even with the COVID-19 restrictions we have we’re going to try to read people’s minds and incorporate people as much as we’re allowed to in a safe way.
“It’s all original magic, all original stuff that you cannot see anywhere else in the world. I make people’s faces disappear off their driver’s licenses. They’ll see incredible visuals and things they have never seen before.”
Something that is rarely seen is a magician who fools the namesakes’ twice on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” but Beckman did just that from his home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while interacting with Penn & Teller in Las Vegas during a Season 7 episode that aired March 19.
“It’s always challenging to do something virtually because you want to make sure that you can connect through the screen,” said Beckman, who added that his illusion of drawing items into life was inspired by people’s concerns during coronavirus about not having enough food and toilet paper.
“You want to make sure people know it’s not a camera trick. The people watched the edited version that the ‘Fool Us’ producers put together but everything was filmed in a continuous shot. This was a piece I’ve never done before. I created it especially for the show.
“It’s more difficult to fool Penn & Teller twice. The first time, they don’t know what to expect. The second time, they’re going to be watching you. They don’t want to fooled a second time so it’s really hard. That makes the stakes higher. That makes it more challenging for both of us and it’s more fun.”
Beckman, who left a career in engineering and is a self-taught magician, travels around the world performing in places including China; Israel, where he grew up; South America and the United States.
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“One of the reasons I decided to pursue magic as a lifetime career is because I realized I can create things never experienced before, completely new ideas, new visuals that nobody had ever seen before,” he said.
“You have a vision that inspires you to create something. You want to create something impossible, something beautiful, something breathtaking. I enjoy the process of finding a way to make it happen. When I finally achieve it and make it work, then I enjoy the performance and the complete full circle.
“I cannot experience the vision I had earlier on without an audience. I know it’s an illusion but when I perform it onstage and I share it with an audience, their reaction makes me feel like it’s real and it brings me back to that vision. The illusions help me to rediscover that childlike wonder.”
Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders
When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25
Where: Moraine Valley Community College’s Fine & Performing Arts Center’s Dorothy Menker Theater, 9000 W. College Parkway, Building F, Palos Hills
Tickets: $35 general public; $31.50 members; $28 veterans and active military; free students
Information: 708-974-5500; morainevalley.edu/fpac
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.