It just happened, and it happened despite the fact that I knew on an intellectual level that the people in the audience were strangers to DelGaudio, and he to them, that they would probably never see each other again, and that the “connection” I found so moving was all based on physical and emotional manipulations. It wasn’t something I had to analyze or think about or ponder. More to the point for most of us, how do you respond when you see this happen to someone else? Some will be left cold, but my answer is also common: It moved me to tears. How do you react when a letter pulled from a cubbyhole on a New York City stage by a magician you’ve never met before transforms into a heartfelt personal note from a loved one with details only the two of you could possibly know? How do you react as an audience member when this man approaches you, stares at you for a few moments and identifies you in a word as you have identified yourself, as though seeing into your soul in exactly the way you hoped someone might? There are a few levels of experience inherent to what DelGaudio has created in the Hulu adaptation of his stage show, and the first is visceral. You already know enough, and if you’re at all in tune with the streaming world, you’ve probably heard plenty (positive and negative, perhaps) to intrigue you. I’ll also relate the same very good advice that was given to me-see it without foreknowledge, and with as few preconceptions as possible. If you haven’t yet seen In & Of Itself, I’ll warn you that spoilers lie ahead, and that what follows is best read from a place of familiarity anyway. Second, and most important, is the implication that the reality constructed for human beings-the things we “see”-are in fact a distortion which brings us away from, not closer to, the truth. First, there is the ambiguity, a hallmark of most magicians and a quality that DelGaudio uniquely extends into the emotional realm on both page and stage. In more than one respect, the biblical koan is perfect for both works. This is the quote Derek DelGaudio uses as an epigraph in his book Amoralman, a memoir published this year with impeccable timing, coinciding with the Hulu release of In & Of Itself, the film adaptation of his long-running stage show.
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