Jordan Allen

IndyFringe: Oh Look, It’s Magic!

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This is part of IndyFringe 2022, Aug. 18-Sept. 4 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Jordan Allen has been an awesome presence at this year’s IndyFringe. The magician has been around the festival all three weekends, doing a little bit of busking, and a lot of attending and talking up other performers’ shows. So, it’s only fair we say a bit about his own performance, which ran the third weekend (Sept. 1-3) at the main-floor stage at the Athenaeum.

“Oh Look, It’s Magic: ADHD Advocacy Show” combines a lot of clever tricks with an honest first-person account of growing up – and living with – Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, which is a real disability, and not something one grows out of (“I wish,” Allen adds). He notes that aside from Houdini’s maxim that magic not only amuses and amazes, but also awakens hope, he feels it can also educate and advocate.

In that vein, Allen maintains a show that is family friendly, and accommodating to all neural patterns. He patiently grins through impulsive outbursts, and gives the neurodivergent their own moments of wonder – as well as to audience members of any brain, even silly folk like me.

It’s cards, ropes, scarves, stories, balls, cups, hope, ripped paper, flashes of color, moments of comedy, and a kind reminder that none of us are alone, if we’re open to life’s magic. And it’s a work in progress, so watch for its next return by following “Jordan Allen – Magician” on Facebook or visiting jallenexperience.com.

IndyFringe: Jordan Allen’s Magic Party

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This is part of IndyFringe 2021, Aug. 19-Sept. 5 (individual performance times vary) in downtown Indianapolis. Details and tickets at IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Magician Jordan Allen loves to throw a party, though the colored stage lights did have him wondering if Aliens were crashing it. But there’s nothing extra-terrestrial here, just good old traditional magic.

Fans of magic will recognize nearly all the tricks, with scarves, books, bags and ropes. Challenged by the “other Jordan” working the Fringe, he even brought back one of the ropes to do a quick escape. Audience members get brought up to join the act, including children – this is an all-ages family show.

From the classic cups-and-balls to a simple napkin, he works his illusions right before your eyes, including doing part of the show at a table by the front-row seats. And despite its cliché nature, he might do a card trick, or two, or three.

For a taste of this fun show, you may see Allen doing pop-up tricks around the Fringe, but be sure to also join his Party, at the Murat Oasis.