Aaron Rabkin Archives - GeniiOnline

Aaron Rabkin considers himself an entertainer first, and a magician second, and a large part of that is how he uses comedy in his shows. Originally dabbling in improv and stand-up comedy, Rabkin embraced his magician side and used his sleight of hand to elevate his jokes, and vice versa. The the final part of our interview, Rabkin shares his thoughts on what makes comedy magic work, and his own thoughts on how to craft humor.

For more from our visit to the magic destinations of Chicago, check out our video interviews with Mark Toland, Dennis Watkins, and Nick Roy, and our Magic Anywhere special, focusing on the unique, hands-on approach to Chicago-style magic.

It’s rare for someone to land their dream gig right off the bat, and such is the case for Aaron Rabkin. His Chicago venue Trickery is the culmination of years of practice, first as a kid in various magic camps and competitions, then later in one-man shows, street performances, and corporate magic. Nothing felt right, though, until he finally decided to make a go of it with his own intimate theater in the heart of downtown Chicago – and the rest, as they say, is history. Learn about his journey through magic in part four of our five-part interview.

When you’ve got an audience of only 30 people, you can actually see the close-up magic, well, up close, and this allows for a much deeper connection between the performer and the crowd. In part three of our five-part interview, Aaron Rabkin explains the benefits of performing in a smaller venue like Trickery, how he uses the energy from the audience to enhance his own performance, and describes what an audience can expect when coming to his show.

Aaron Rabkin loves theater, but as a young performer, he also knows how hard it is to get a tech-savvy generation raised on instant video streaming to come out and see a play. That’s why he built Trickery, an intimate venue in the heart of Chicago that he hopes will be a gateway drug for people, not just to magic, but for live performance as a whole. In the second part of our five-part interview, Rabkin talks about crafting a unique show to get people interested in magic, what he thinks does (or doesn’t) define Chicago magic, and the origin story of Hoppy, the Psychic Wonder Bunny.

It’s a bit strange to hear Aaron Rabkin, magician and owner of the Chicago venue Trickery, say he hates magic – but it’s not without reason. For Rabkin, magic is about impressing and entertaining his patrons, many of whom are laypeople, not other magicians. It doesn’t matter if he’s performing standards or the most technically complex trick he knows, as long as the end result leaves his audience satisfied. In part one of our five-part interview with Rabkin, he talks about what excites him about magic, what he tries to accomplish at Trickery, and how Fool Us has helped foster a wider appreciation of magic.

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