Saturday, March 21, 2026, 8:00 pm, classic-editor
CARL DIEHL: PAINLESS MAGIC + STAGE MAGICAN NGUYEN +
In person, Carl Diehl’s kaleidoscopic account of creativity, camaraderie, and curiosity begins with the life and times of the late, great magician, vaudevillian, & comedy emcee, Werner “Dorny” Dornfield (1892 -1982), then splinters prismatically into a mosaic of riddles and revelations about artist-led initiatives elsewhen & elsewhere! This experimental ethnography of magic shimmers with ephemera from the Golden Age of stage magic and beyond, and intrigues with insights from magicians, historians, philosophers, and Dorny‘s oldest surviving relatives. Interviews with musicians, performance artists, and experimental filmmakers conjure connections across contexts of art, magic, and everyday life. PLUS, on our stage!..Thee Amazing Michael Nguyen—SF’s master of prestidigitation, here to astonish all using sleight of hand and humor!! $12