Frederic Da Silva tells the skeptic to pick a number from one to 100. Open to experience, the skeptic accidentally says the last two digits of his birth year out loud. Da Silva asks him to make another choice and keep it to himself. He thinks 71, then 13, before an Alice Cooper song pops in his head and he focuses on the number in the song title. The star of one-man show Paranormal With Frederic Da Silva makes sure the skeptic has settled on a choice, looks him in the eye, writes on the back of show program then turns it around: 18.
The skeptic walks away stunned, exchanging excited words and glances with people lined up in the lobby of The Magic Attic to take a photo with Da Silva after his 4 p.m. performance. It seems like the entire audience waited around to have a close encounter with the French mentalist, who won them over with his combination of extra-sensory perception and contagious charisma.
Da Silva picks participants by throwing foam flying rings and inflated emoji balls into the all-ages audience. He proceeds to astound them by correctly guessing names, numbers, locations and ephemera drawn from his minimalist prop inventory. He blinds himself with tape for one bit, perhaps too much.
He demonstrates artistic skill as well, creating an abstract profile of one of his influences with a twist not apparent until his canvas is complete. One part of the show that may require some suspension of belief is when he makes people feel as if he has tapped them on the arm when he is well clear of their personal space. It’s a little hard to believe despite their amazed expressions.
That is until Da Silva makes that correct guess of 18. There is no empirical explanation. People brought onstage continue to express genuine amazement as they wait in line to meet Da Silva after the show. There is no evidence of plants, just Da Silva successfully sowing seeds of belief in his Paranormal powers.
Horseshoe Las Vegas, ticketmaster.com
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