Cuiffo and Hnath have created “A Simulacrum,” which includes both classic tricks (the ambitious card, the torn and restored newspaper) and some new ones.
Because “A Simulacrum,” running through July 2 at Atlantic Stage 2, is less a demonstration of magic than a deconstruction of how and why magic is made.
To perform it, Cuiffo, 45, had to unlearn most of his habits, to strip away any vestige of showmanship.
His offstage persona is fairly close to the stage one he favors — rumpled, excitable, mildly sardonic, casually authoritative.
Cuiffo, a familiar face Off Broadway, is unusual both in how he fuses magic and theater, which few performers do, and in how he appears to combine rigor with a seeming spontaneity.
Persons:
”, —, Maya Phillips
Organizations:
Atlantic, The
Locations:
Chelsea, The Times