The Optical Delusions

Like burlesque performances, magic and variety shows have benefited from a sudden revival in recent years, as young performers put a modern twist on old-fashioned art forms. Twenty-something Shorewood native Marcus Monroe, for instance, has become a minor television personality by being, of all things, a juggleralbeit an “extreme” one. His perilous contribution to the craft is a knife/torch hybrid he calls “the knorch.” Monroe is one third of a variety troupe called The Optical Delusions, with fellow high-concept buskers Ben Seidman (a likeably nebbish Milwaukee magician who has written for Criss “Mindfreak” Angel but doesn’t share Angel’s sleazeball demeanor), and London’s self-proclaimed mentalist Luke Jermay.