INTERVIEW: Illusionist Scott Silven invites you to his Scottish table
Photo: Scott Silven holds court At the Illusionist’s Table, now playing the McKittrick Hotel in New York City. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by DKC O&M with permission.
NEW YORK — At the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea, there’s a tucked-away corner on the rooftop where one can be transported to the Scotland of Scott Silven’s youth. Here is where the illusionist holds court with a couple dozen patrons who have come to be entertained by mentalist musings and enjoy whisky tastings, wine pairings and scrumptious, decadent food. The experience is called At the Illusionist’s Table, and Silven invites audience members to pull up a seat.
“I had been living in London at the time,” Silven said in a recent phone interview. “[I was] really building my profile doing larger stage shows, where I was playing really big theaters across Europe, and I enjoyed that aspect of what I was doing. … I really wanted to create something that explored the senses in a different way.”
Silven began to put pen to paper, and he devised an evening of mentalism and whisky tasting tied to his Scottish heritage, a two-hour experience that featured illusions and stories from his childhood. He quickly realized the power of this idea and the potentiality of what could be achieved in such an intimate setting.
“So then I developed it a little bit further, added the food, and took it to a place in Edinburgh called the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and sort of kept it there for a season and was amazed to see just how well the audience connected to that sort of experience,” he said. “It was something much more powerful than what I had done on the stage at that point, where you’re tying the food and the narrative and the whisky together, alongside the illusions. It really created this extraordinary journey. That’s the genesis of it, and from there, I’ve been exploring it ever since. Every season there’s a new venue; there’s new illusions.”
This is not the first time Silven has mounted the show at the McKittrick Hotel. He has returned to the theatrical venue time and time again, and it seems like a good fit for At the Illusionist’s Table. On the other floors of the hotel are Speakeasy Magick, another unique illusion-based show; The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, a National Theatre of Scotland production; and, of course, the immersive version of Macbeth known as Sleep No More, the main tenant of the hotel.
“The McKittrick is a love letter to Scotland, so I can think of no better place as the New York home of the show,” the illusionist said. “I had the great joy of being able to take the show across the world, but every season I do try and come back to the McKittrick. That marriage of the Scottish narrative of the venue alongside its really prestigious, immersive shows in this space, it really works beautifully. … Custom-designing the space and making sure that everything the audience touches and feels and senses feels authentic really adds a deeper layer to the show.”
When one takes a seat at this illusionist’s table, there’s a palpable sense of uncertainty in the air, which is exactly the point. Silven welcomes strangers to the experiential show, but there’s a definite mystery to the environment and the proceedings. Every one seems overly excited for what’s in store, but also hesitantly nervous about what’s in store.
“I think that’s an important part of the show,” Silven said. “I wanted it to have a sense of authenticity because I’m opening up and sharing my life experience with my guests, in the same way that I’m asking them to do for me. … It’s quite a different experience from doing theater. I’ve had the great privilege of being able to do this show and both my larger stage shows, but performing in a theater, you’re usually staring into a dark abyss. And there’s something wonderful about this where you’re sitting around a table with a group of people, as I say at the start of the show, who are strangers, and ultimately by the end of the evening, they make this really powerful connection. For me, it keeps it very fresh as well. I’m obviously doing the show several times a week and hundreds of times a year, and no two shows are the same. So I get that same sense of excitement every time I sit at the head of the table, waiting to meet the guests.”
Silven said some people seem to love the interactive quality of the experience, while others remain quiet and take a “wait and see” approach. As the host for the evening, he approaches the audience sensitively and feels the energy they are giving off. Somewhat surprisingly, what he asks the theatergoers to participate in is something Silven may stray from himself.
“I, myself, really do stay away from interactive shows,” he said with a laugh. “I hate being picked in an audience. I’m the person that sits at the back of the theater and keeps my head down, so I try to approach it from the way that I would feel coming into that room and sitting at the table. That is really to show the audience that they’re personally going to be part of the collective experience. … It’s not going to feel like a traditional magic show. Even though there are tricks that I show you, hopefully it feels a little deeper and a little more personal to the people taking part, and I love watching that transformation from the beginning of the experience where some of the audience members sit down and they’re very quiet. At the end, they’re toasting glasses together.”
It’s best to keep the secrets of At the Illusionist’s Table a secret, otherwise the experience would be spoiled. But here’s one behind-the-scenes story to whet the palate. The illusions take place in between a three-course dinner of seafood risotto, braised beef shoulder, chocolate mousse and passed-around side dishes. When patrons are eating, Silven steps outside and lets them enjoy the food and one another’s company. So, what does he do when everyone else is eating?
“Usually I’m eating alongside the audience just in a different space and something not as rich,” he said. “When I initially started doing the show, I would sit and dine with the audience, and then it came to the point where I was doing the show sometimes twice a night, sometimes three times a night. It’s a very decadent meal with champagne and whisky, so it was a lot for me to keep up with. So I decided to leave the room. But what I realized actually is me leaving the room works for me, but it actually works better for the experience. It allows the audience to relax, to discuss the things they’ve seen. It creates this Agatha Christie mystery to it, which I quite enjoy.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
At the Illusionist’s Table with Scott Silven continues through Sunday, April 2 at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
