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HOUR Magazine, Montreal, June 1, 2000 BRAIN CANDY An evening with enigmatic warlock Gary Kurtz The notorius GHB Two centuries ago a Gary Kurtz show might have ended with his being disemboweled and boundo a stakehis entrails left rotting in the sun as a warning to those who dare test society's sensibilities. Today, however, instead of being chased by the local men armed with pitchforks, modern-day sorcerer Gary Kurtz enjoys celebrity status. With a special talent born of a child-hood head injury, Kurtz is one of those rare souls who has tapped into that mysterious other 90 per cent of our brain's capacity - the part that I'm currently using to store Eminem lyrics. There are a few performers who can make a comedian feel a little stupid about what he's doing because their act is simply incredible. Gary Kurtz is one of them. And Gary Kurtz, an adopted Montrealer, is taking care of business ~performing [p3] in both languages for his two-week run at La Salle du Gesu. The Paravox Inc. production is tight, in either language, and its vision consistent with Gary Kurtz's captivating persona. Nevertheless, by the intermission I felt like I was watching a luxury sports car sitting in the showroom. I wanted to take it out on a test drive to see what he could really do instead of just admiring its potential. In an industry fuelled by the increasing shock value of its imagery, it can be difficult for a performer warping metallic spoons before my eyes,moving watches and revealing intimate details of audience-members' minds simply by tightening his brow. The production was obviously geared to the boomer market, who seem to be more interested in bells and whistles than actually open to the supernatural. A blindfolded knife trick he styles as Russian roulette, one that I've seen performed countless times, however, remains fresh, and is the highlight of the two hour show. The intimate setting afforded me the opportunity to see both the shocked looks on the faces of audience members he successfully took for a ride and those waiting to be blown away. He has lost the genuine connection with the audience that he had during his club days. The drama, at times, had played itself out before the trick was over. Thisshow easily could have been mystical and disturbing but it came off as being cute. I suspect that his numerous television appearances and his working the corporate-show circuit has contributed to the pacing of the show. Gary Kurtz is impressive and the spectacle willmove non-believers to debate for hours how in the Hell he was able to determine your phone number just by looking into your eyes. [P3] delivers you to a world once reserved for the X-Files. The most unique entertainment experience that has passed through Montreal this year admittedly left me wanting more. With another production in development for the fall, perhaps', in spite of some flaws, this was just the first episode of a thrilling trilogy. ()
Ici, Montréal, June 1, 2000 SHIVERS Since Tuesday evening the Théâtre Propéro is vibrating under the influence of Gary Kurtz For the most part, magicians and other merchants of illusion annoy me in the extreme. Their affected manners, their hypnotic eyes, their phoney airs of mystery and special effects dependent on HUGE sound and video accompaniment. It's enough to get me yawning and nodding off within five minutes. When it comes to Gary Kurtz, it's something else. What we have here is a man of remarkable simplicity, on stage and off, who plays with his audiences perception without the need for artifice. This guy has frazzled more than a few skeptics. What he accomplishes on stage is purely and simply incredible; whether he's divining the serial numbers on a banknote someone pulls from their wallet, or revealing secrets about your personal life, secrets you thought only you knew. "My performances make audiences question their rational beliefs," Kurtz confides. "I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I only raise questions. " More than once in the past, the audience has stopped applauding after about 20 minutes into the show, letting themselves get carried away in an almost communion-like experience. "In our culture, things we can't describe or explain in words are routinely denigrated. But, so many things we experience can't be described in words." he said. In strongly recommending P3 (paravox, paradox, paranormal), I'm not endorsing belief in the esoteric. Simply, I invite you to experience this truly out-of-the-ordinary show for yourself. It will send a chill up your spine and rattle your preconceptions. Ici Translation from the original French : Elaine Rogers
La Presse, Montréal, Saturday, May 27 2000 Gary Kurtz - Beyond Normal ISABELLE MASSÉ collaboration spéciale Among the unexplainable phenomena that Mulder and Scully should investigate on the series The X-Files - there' s Gary Kurtz. There doesn't seem to be much unusual about him - at first glance. He's actually quite charming and outgoing. Except... Gary Kurtz isn't normal - He's more like "paranormal" and has been ever since he fell and hit his head on a merry-go-round when he was a child. Since Wednesday, and running through to June 3, people attending his show at the Gesù can witness, for themselves, the consequences of thataccident. In and around the six red stools on the stage, Gary Kurtz juggles with his powers to the delight of the audience, which he takes pleasure in using as participants. Faster than you can say Jack Robinson, Kurtz can correctly identify words people chose at random from piles of books, tell you the name of your first best friend, bend spoons, link wedding rings, advance the hands of your wristwatch as he pleases, and play Russian roulette withbutcher knives - blindfolded! Like a divine healer, he needs only to wave his hands for you to feel his touch, leaving you dumbfounded. Forget the scantily-clad assistants being sawed in two and put them back together: Kurtz' show works on a whole other level. The mentalist transcends words, descriptions and all logic, as he repeatedly points out to skeptics and believers alike. Does he really have supernatural powers? Hmmm. Is it a trick? Surely... maybe... Whatever - within a few minutes, we buy into it and enjoy the ride. All in all, the show is so well-paced, and Kurtz so warm and personable, that we believe him, hardly questioning his ability to transgress the possible. Witness the oooohs! and aaaaaahs! that follow his every demonstration. "Some people think I actually read the words they choose in the books in the reflections in their eyes. If I could do that, I'd play poker!" "Others say, 'What an incredible memory - he must have memorized every last book.' Funny? Gary Kurtz certainly is that. His sense of humour makes his telekinetic and telepathic demonstrations feel like a communal party. Extremely charming, never intimidating, he quickly wins your admiration. There's never a shortage of audience volunteers eager to test his abilities up close. Like Danny, a physician who said he doesn't believe in paranormal phenomena - or little green men: "My wristwatch actually heated up as he made the hands move forward. It was really weird. " Skeptics have never faced such a challenge to rational explanation as Gary Kurtz. Oy ya yoy ya yoy!
THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2000 Mentally challenging Pope of Paranormal dazzles his doubters Gary Kurtz has been featured on NBC's The World's Most Dangerous Magic I & II. But he says he's not really a magician....He's performed at the Just for Laughs festival. But he says he's not really a comedian. Some advertising whiz has dubbed him the Czar of Paradox., the Pope of the Paranorma1. But he refers to himself simply as a mentalist, which calls up all the wrong images in the mind of this cynic. To set the record straight, Kurtz neither lies on a couch spilling his inner-most ravings to a mental-healthprofessional, nor does he play the part of the latter listening to the innermost ravings of those lying on a couch. He is not a psychic who claims to have been abducted by aliens and who chats up the dead in other dimensions. No, he simply reads minds and divines the innermost ravings and more banal thoughts of audiences. Kurtz, a former dancer and choreographer, comprehends that this line of work induces a certain amount of skepticism. To that end, he has a standing offer to reward $5,000 to anyone who can prove he uses paid stooges in the audience or that he has planted secret electronic devices to accomplish his mind reading. Alas, I missed a chunk of his opening routine at the Gesù the other night while scouring the hail for paid stooges and electronic devices. No luck. Kurtz is tightly wound. He sweats profusely on stage. But he knows how to work a room. And turn an audience full of skeptics into believers. He starts small with playing cards, correctly guessing what eight of nine people in the audience are holding. Then he distributes books throughout the hall, and is able to recite passages chosen at random by patrons. So now I'm thinking the guy merely has a photographic memory. Naturally, he senses that I, and others, sense that, so he moves onto the kinetic portion of the show. Actually, it's psychokinetic. He makes folks feel like he's actually touched them when he hasn't. For those still not convinced, he takes rings from members of the audience and manages to link them together, even though the bands had no breaks in them before. This makes the audience go "ah!" Then, he uses his powers to bend solid silver spoons clutched by a couple of volunteers. This makes some audience members groan, for we remember the bogus Uri Geller and his spoon-bending shtick.He has the hall back in his hip pocket again when he uses his psychic-kinetic powers to change the time on the watches of several other volunteers. And the audience is enrapt when he does his blindfolded Russian roulette number with some awfully sharp butcher knives. ... Yet as soon as intermission comes, skepticism returns for some in the crowd. "I have my doubts," Roger Cardinal says. "On the other hand, experts suggest we use only 5 per cent of our brains. Maybe Kurtz does what he does because he uses more. Who knows?" Joe Morena, the dynamo at the helm of the St. Viateur Bagel Shop and Café Empire, allows that Kurtz is a solid entertainer and magician, but he remains to be convinced that he is the Pope of the Paranormal. Well, a few minutes later, Morena is no longer a doubter. Kurtz returns to the stage. He has volunteers tape coins to his eyes and then blindfold him. He asks members of the audience to remove unusual articles from their wallets or purses. He instructs a volunteer to pick three people at ran dom and bring them to the stage. Morena is one of them. He is clutching a replacement key in a plastic holder. Without touching, Kurtz correctly identifies Morena's object as well as the anti-bacterial hand lotion and the hair gel selected by the two others onstage. Not only that, but the blindfolded Kurtz also deduces what Morena is wearing. Kurtz goes on to dazzle by divining serial numbers on $10 bills randomly selected. He guesses a stunned patron's birthday, as well as the names of his girlfriend and parents. He divines the phone number of a young lady who seems more concerned that the young men in the crowd don't commit it to memory. And for his finale, Kurtz turns the tables on the audience by asking them to divine the dream vacation he has concocted for himself, details of which are sealed in an envelope. Natch, various audience members are able to sketch together Kurtz's getaway to Hawaii, including precise dates and the amount of cash a sidekick will bring along. Pretty impressive.But it's like some of us had always suspected: we're all a bunch of mentalists in this town.
Thérèse Parisien - TEMPO-Showbiz
- (www.canoe.ca) GARY KURTZ in performance What makes a mentalist tick? Gary Kurtz performs a show based on something he calls "mentalism." After my encounter with Gary Kurtz, I found myself in a state of shock for several hours, asking myself "What's his trick?" "Does he really have mysterious powers?"" Is he a mind reader?" " Is he an alien from another planet?" I'm still scratching my head. But this six-foot-something blonde doesn't seem the type to consort with devil. At one point, he handed me a magazine and asked me to choose any word and concentrate hard. I picked a single word from among the thousands that floated before my eyes. He started writing something down on a piece of paper, which he then handed to me. It was "my" word! But that was just an appetizer: next he recited the serial number of a banknote that I had been jammed deep in my pocket. Gary Kurtz is a mentalist. What's a mentalist, you ask? "It's like a math genius who doesn't understand why he's good at math," he told me with a chuckle, with his slight English accent. "But to give you a better idea: He's someone who uses his five senses in a way that gives the impression that he has a sixth." Kurtz believes in the sixth sense. "Some people call it paranormal, but that's a scary word. It's too dark, too frightening. People who know me see me as something of an eccentric, someone with a sense of humour. Let's just label me of as an idiot savant without the idiot."
From Farmer to Globetrotter Born on a small farm near a village of fewer than 2,000 souls not far from Windsor, Ont., Kurtz spent his first 17 years as & a farmer. After leaving home he chose to study art in a big way. "When I was a child, all I ever wanted to be was normal," he said. Normal? More on that later. Although he was raised in a landlocked environment, Kurtz dreamed of one day becoming an oceanographer. "If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I didn't want to grow up to be a farmer," says the personification of wired urbanism, laughing. As if that were even possible. "At eighteen, I learned that I could really be off-the-wall and actually use my innate abilities." It all came together when he discovered dance and music. Whole hog, he threw himself into modern dance and eventually became a choreographer. Meanwhile, he flirted with stand-up comedy on the side.
A Breathtaking Show If you go to Kurtz's show at the end of May at the Gésù, get ready to be flabbergasted. "I'll be doing a combination of mentalism, telepathic and interactive demonstrations, and working in a style that's highly personal and intimate." Not only does he possess out-of-the ordinary abilities, Kurtz also has a gift for the gab and a sharp sense of humour. You can't be sure of anything with him. During his show, he'll tell you whether you're lying or telling the truth and uses a cell phone to read the thoughts of people called at random by audience members. He'll describe in detail the contents of your pockets just like that, or name one of your long-forgotten friends. He can even change the time on your watch without touching it! He swears that he doesn't know anything about his audience when he takes to the stage. Check out his show and decide for yourself. "I almost play a secondary role in my own shows," he said. "It's all done for and with the audience." Montreal's largest-circulation daily newspaper, le Journal de Montréal, wrote of him, "He manages to win over the most die-hard of sceptics." The Gazette's Bill Brownstein described him as one of the country's most respected "sorcerers" and among the best performers in Canada.
A Show That Will Not Leave You Indifferent "I ve studied psychology and neuro-linguistic programming intensively and practised on friends for a decade. And when I had visitors, I tried out what I had learned. To my family, I'm pretty much normal," he added with a laugh. "But they do think I have a weird way of making a living." Kurtz's talents have brought him to the four corners of the world, doing corporate shows and speaking on psychology and the theory of performance. He has written books and worked for scientists, engineers and doctors. "When it comes to the paranormal, there are those who believe, those who don't believe and those who don't know," he pointed out. "You have to respect everybody's opinion. That being said, it's true that past performances have baffled and overwhelmed even intellectuals and scientists." For his next show, titled p3 (which stands for paradox, paranormal and paravox i.e., beyond words), he links up with Guy Sprung, Toronto's bad boy of stage direction. "It's an intimate show," Kurtz said. "It's important that it remain minimalist at every level." Remember, the only special effects are the man himself. "I want to take the audience somewhere in my two-hour show. To me, an artist is someone who job it is to get his or her audience to see things differently." And seeing things differently is the least you can say about Gary Kurtz! Translation from the original French : Elaine Rogers |
