Chicago-born magician and comedian Mike Hammer has been building his name in the Las Vegas entertainment scene for more than two decades, including his current 11-years-and-counting stint headlining his show at the Four Queens on historic downtown’s Fremont Street. His rapid-fire delivery keeps audiences on their toes, then his sleight-of-hand skills astonish all. And now Hammer’s pulling double duty, cruising to the Strip most nights to perform as a primary cast member in fellow magician Criss Angel’s new AMYSTIKA—The Secret Revealed production at Planet Hollywood Resort.
What is it about your afternoon performances at the Four Queens that has allowed you to sustain the show for so long?
When I started, people weren’t rushing to go to Fremont Street then; it was more of a late-night thing. The afternoon was pretty empty. It was hard, but I’ve done really well since then. I have an edge to what I do, and I think right now there’s kind of a need for it, when people are getting kicked off Twitter every other day. I’m not vulgar but I do pick on the audience quite a bit and play off the crowd a lot. They enjoy it, but it took awhile to get to this point where people know I’m joking.
How did this opportunity occur with AMYSTIKA?
Years ago, I became friendly with Criss (Angel) when he came to my show and really liked it. He asked if I’d go on tour with him with a show called Raw, and we went all over the country and Canada. Then he asked me to go when we went to do Broadway, and how can you turn that down? It was a really unique experience, and we had a lot of fun, and we always kept in touch. During the pandemic, when no one knew if our shows were going to open again, he told me he was working on this other show with Franco Dragone, and it was … another one of those opportunities you have to take advantage (of).
That sounds like a pretty hectic schedule, bouncing between downtown and the Strip to perform in these two very different shows.
These days, I have to really balance my time, because you do need a certain amount of energy for performing. Going from one to the other is a workout, and I can’t do it and still go out to every event in town. I have to limit that time and rest my voice, too. But in a way, his show is easier for me, because I am following more of a technical layout. In my show, I can play around with the time a little more, improvise off the cuff, but on his show, while they do allow me a lot of freedom, I’m very aware of the timing because there are illusions that are very well choreographed, and I don’t want to screw up what the other characters and dancers are doing.
Improvisation is such a huge part of your performance, interacting with the audience and coming up with funny remarks to complement your magic. Is that something that you turn off when you’re offstage, or is your mind always going through those motions?
Those things come to me quite easily, but I do have trouble turning it off sometimes. My brain is constantly working unless I’m at home relaxing. Since I was young, I always had this quick wit, and it felt like kind of a curse at first because I would say whatever came into my mind. I had to learn to hone that as a craft and realize that you can’t just blurt those things out. My father was like that, he would say anything in public, and I always thought it was funny, but my family might get embarrassed sometimes. I think I picked it up from him, and I always loved Don Rickles and I think when I was younger, I was that guy in my head, thinking, “I can just rip on these people.” But the chemistry has to be right. It took years to perfect that, and now I can get away with pretty much anything.
Four Queens, fourqueens.com
Planet Hollywood, ticketmaster.com
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