Special to the PRESS
El Paseo Arts is celebrating the “Art of Magic” with a “fabulously talented” magician.
Zak Mirz is a first-generation American. His parents immigrated from Iran and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, when Mirz was only one year old, his father was murdered when his Italian restaurant was robbed.
Growing up in Texas, Mirz turned to magic as an escape from reality, and he found it was something he could share. Today as a professional magician, Mirz is one of the biggest up-and-comers in the magic industry.
His talents earned him the prestigious title of “Best Magician” by the Dallas Observer, and he tours worldwide using storytelling and the art of magic to share wonder and awe with his audiences. Besides being a magic advisor to David Blaine’s special The Magic Way, Zak fooled Penn and Teller on the hit TV show Penn & Teller: Fool Us! and his first full-length magic show Ticket for One is now streaming on YouTube.
Mirz customizes his live shows to provide the best experience for each audience. He shares pieces of his life, including how his family achieved the “American dream,” despite struggles along the way, as well as the people and events that inspired Mirz to become who he is today.
Mirz describes Ticket for One as a love letter to his late father. Now with a daughter of his own, Mirz has again incorporated fatherhood into his new special, Flashes of Magic, which he will perform at the South Padre Island Convention Center on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20, 21 and 22, 2025. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m.
Perhaps Mirz’s biggest claim to fame to date is stumping the magic world’s stalwart skeptics Penn & Teller with a trick he calls Card Stab. According to Mirz, his use of knives has earned him the nickname “Knife Guy” among his peers. “If you ask magicians what’s the first thing that pops into their mind when they think of me, it’s probably knives,” he said. He is also known for his storytelling and his use of standup comedy in his performance.
Tickets for Flashes of Magic are $30 per person, $25 per person for El Paseo Arts members. Tickets are available at SOS, the SPI Art Incubator, the Port Isabel-South Padre Press Office at 406 Garcia Street and online at elpaseoarts.org. Student tickets are also available for $10 each.
Flashes of Magic features all new tricks crafted by Mirz, shaped into a story. When he develops a trick, he tries to work out the story behind it that he will tell the audience. Then he works out just the right music to use with the trick, and suddenly, it becomes a multi-sensory experience.
Flashes of Magic is a family-friendly show that requires some assistance from audience members.
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