Choquette’s show relies on audience

Joe Delaney

Friday, Sept. 24, 1999 | 9:57 a.m.

Alain Choquette is billed as a French-Canadian entertainer and illusionist. He will be appearing in the Paris Las Vegas' Les Theatre des Arts, dark on Fridays, through Dec. 20.

He is assisted by the comely Chantal Corminboeuf and the innovative direction of Bertrand Petit. The 1,200-seat theater will be the home of "Notre Dame De Paris" in mid-January.

This is not just another magic and illusion show. Choquette is charming and articulate in both French and English and a master at audience involvement, working equally well with adults and children.

The first illusion was a version of metamorphosis. Chantal disappears and Choquette appears. After a brief "good evening" and some funny dialogue, the second trick was performed by the entire audience with Choquette showing them how to do it on a large screen.

Each person was given a packet at the entrance, which included a complete deck of cards and a pendulum. We won't give it away, but the card trick did work.

The interaction was nicely begun and continued throughout the show. Chantal joined him for an illusion, disappearing in an old-fashioned barrel organ. Choquette then went back into the audience, returning with four people.

Again using the screen, he performed a variety of the old three-card monte tricks on a small table, using different versions with each participant. Good stuff. Chantal climbed a rope, and Choquette spun the rope to recorded musical accompaniment, a lovely ballet effect, with Chantal eventually descending and disappearing into a box onstage.

He was especially effective with a youngster in the audience in another box trick, which dealt with a fake horse that he sawed in half that later materialized into a real horse in the box.

It was back into the audience for a trick that again involved the entire audience with the pendulum that "responded" to some clever questions, one for the men, the second for the women.

While in the audience he "stole" a number of watches and then had the victims come onstage to claim them. The next illusion involved a Monet painting that came to life with thousands of butterflies.

The closer had 12 members of the audience and two witnesses, selected at random, onstage. The witnesses verified that there were no methods of exiting, and then the 12 members were "dispatched" to Paris. They were gone in a second, obviously a one-way trip.

David Copperfield also closed recently at Caesars Palace with a version of this illusion. We were informed that Choquette and Copperfield are good friends and that Copperfield had purchased the illusion from him.

As we said earlier this is different from any of the other current shows featuring the illusionary arts. Business has been very good and building nicely. Prognosis: a successful three-month run and a possible early return, somewhere, in 2000.