In The CardShark, Jason Michaels delivers an unexpected but involving kind of magic show, featuring card tricks. He tells stories about the circumstances of his learning the tricks and then educates the audience about how they work. Michaels is a pleasant entertainer, who lays out his cards on a kind of desk, center stage. The card assemblages are filmed and shown on two screens, each one above and on an opposite side of the stage. Everything can be seen and heard. Most of the tricks and “lessons” get help from volunteers in the audience. Happily, their participation is pertinent, and they are never talked down to or made fun of in any of the ways of cheap entertainment using audience participation. And how and where Michaels finds cards only they are supposed to know or have somewhere on their person is truly extraordinary. Among the stories Michaels tells are a mystery to be solved, myths, talk of popular kinds of poker, and prophesies -- all, of course, involving cards. He also tells the secrets behind Three-Card Monte, a con game. He’s against cheating. Altogether, a light summer entertainment with some easy-to-take learning experiences!
