Mac King Comedy Magic Show: Review

I went to the Harrah's Concierge Desk on the third morning of my April trip and traded the voucher I received at check-in for a free ticket to Mac King into an actual ticket to Mac King. Finally! I’d been trying to see him for years!


I selected the 1 p.m. show because I had extensive plans for the evening and wanted to have plenty of time to get ready and meet my friends. (He has a second show at 3 p.m. daily, and they are exactly the same.) Mac King performs in Harrah's Legends Theater, which is on the 3rd floor of the hotel and casino. The escalators and elevators are located in the middle of the casino, next to the Cashier's Cage, and not difficult to find at all - just look for the overhead signs. I arrived just before 12:30 p.m. and went upstairs to join the line, and we waited all of 5 minutes before they opened the doors and started letting people in.

The seating for the show is General Admission; first come, first served. I was seated in the 3rd row back from the stage, off to the right, five seats from the aisle, and it was a really good seat. I wanted to try and figure out the sleight-of-hand tricks he performed, but I knew that would probably not be possible (it's fun to try, though). It should be mentioned that the theater is also home to the Legends in Concert, so it is quite a large venue for Mac King's smaller, more intimate show, and about 1/3 of the theater was filled when the show started. Still, not a bad crowd for a twice daily show.

I must say that I really enjoyed it. It’s not a big-time magic show by any means, but Mac King gets the entire audience involved and it’s quite entertaining from beginning to end. He has several tricks that involve audience participation, so be aware that you could be selected to come up on stage and take part in the show. (One of the participation tricks involves children, and two others involve adults.)

Even though I laughed throughout the show, my two favorite parts were the “cloak of invisibility” - if you could just see his face! - and the goldfish trick. I can’t even begin to explain what either of those look like, but I laughed pretty hard at the first one and was complete amazed by the second one. I have no idea how he did the goldfish trick because it involved two real, live goldfish and his mouth. Sounds gross, but it was pretty cool. At the end of the show, I really wanted some Fig Newtons, too, as his love of the sandwich-like cookie is referenced - and they are used - throughout the show.

The show lasts about 1 ½ hours, and it’s a great afternoon diversion. I would recommend it to anyone who'd like to see a magic show in Vegas but isn't willing to pay $50 or more for one of the bigger names. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 7.5 for good, wholesome afternoon entertainment in Vegas.

Tickets are normally $24.95 and include one drink, but hotel guests generally receive a buy one, get one free voucher OR a free ticket voucher when they check in, so don't be afraid to ask if you're checking in and don't see one included in your packet. In addition, there are also $6.95 and buy one, get one free coupons in most Las Vegas magazines that you can find in your hotel room or in the Las Vegas taxis, so there's another option if you don't want to pay full price for the show. The show is dark on Sunday and Monday.

You can also visit Mac King's website for more information:
http://www.mackingshow.com/home.html