Tuesday, May 29, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.
Who: Hans Klok in "The Beauty of Magic"
When: Preview performances 7 and 10 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday. Thereafter, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 7 and 10 p.m. Saturdays.
Where: Planet Hollywood
Tickets: $35 for preview. After that, $35 to $105; 785-5000
The question isn't whether internationally renowned magician Hans Klok can compete in a city already brim full of illusionists, including Lance Burton, David Copperfield, Penn & Teller and (next year) Criss Angel.
The question is: Who's better looking - Klok or his assistant, Pamela Anderson?
Anderson assists Klok in his production "The Beauty of Magic," which has preview performances this week and opens to the public next Thursday.
She replaces Carmen Electra, who initially signed to be his celebrity assistant but bowed out without explanation.
Perhaps she was afraid she couldn't compete with the 38-year-old magician's movie-star good looks.
Klok has wanted to perform magic since growing up in his native Holland , where, through the magic of television, he was inspired by the grand illusions of Siegfried & Roy.
He has toured the world and is no stranger to Las Vegas. In 1996 he performed for NBC's "The World's Greatest Magic," which was filmed at Caesars Palace.
Klok recently took a break from rehearsals to discuss his show, Anderson and other topics - including at the age of 11 meeting Siegfried (without Roy).
Q: How did you end up in Las Vegas?
My show became so big the producer said we should go to Vegas. Traveling with the show, we had three days to set it up and two days to break it down and a few days in between to do the show. It was hard for them to make money, even though we were sold out all the time. Then they started inviting some people from the United States to see the show and they liked it. Robert Earl from Planet Hollywood, he said, "This is our new magician." He believed that Vegas was ready for a new magician.
Why Vegas as opposed to any other city in the world?
I've been traveling so much and living out of suitcases. I always went to the places where the audience lived. This is the place where the audience comes to you. This is an international place. No one is judging me being from Holland. You have Celine, she's from Canada. International performers are coming here to perform, and the audience is international. Vegas is still growing. It's an amazing place.
Do you know any of the other magicians in town?
Lance Burton is a friend of mine. He helped me many times. I loved the illusion of his where he is laying out and there's a girl laying on top of him and they float up into the air. It's amazing. I wrote him and told him how much I liked it and he said I could use the trick but not in Las Vegas, where he performs. That's how Lance is. He's a really good friend. Not that we go out or anything, but if you have a question you can call him and he is always willing to help you. He wants you to succeed because if I succeed it's good for magic in general.
Compare your act with that of other magicians.
It's good that we all have our own style. Criss Angel is like Alice Cooper, the rock star. I have kind of a rock-star feeling in my show, as well, but I also like the glamour. I like to play with that. I think my skills, the tricks I do, I don't know anybody that does that stuff right now. My skill brought me here - my skill and my style.
Criss Angel has entered into an agreement with Cirque du Soleil to create a magic show next year at the Luxor. Are you intimidated?
I love the competition but I must say that I'm happy we are here a year before he opens. I think I bring a different feel to Vegas, otherwise why should I come here? Criss is very controlled by Cirque du Soleil and I'm happy I'm not so controlled. The art of magic that I do is from myself. I admire his work, but he has to deal with the Cirque and I'm happy I don't have to deal with it.
Why have you brought Pamela Anderson into the show?
I can never say I am the best magician but I can say I have the biggest production show, magic wise, on the Strip. It is such a huge investment, to add a superstar like Pamela Anderson could be helpful to succeeding sooner.
Is Pamela Anderson just window dressing?
No. She only wants to do it if she has a chance to do some grand illusions. She does some amazing stuff, some of it pretty dangerous. She loves to do that. She's not like a celebrity that walks on stage, says hello and walks off.
How long will she be with the show?
Three months for now, but we're talking about extending. After Pamela, who's going to top her? Madonna?
Did you adapt your show for Vegas?
There's a little story in the show, a little story about a little boy who dreams of becoming a magician. It's my life story. In Europe people are much more interested in that. But for Las Vegas we trimmed it down a little bit, made it a little bit faster, but it's still a beautiful show - a beautiful journey through my life - but it's also a bit of a history of magic.
I perform some of the jewels, mysteries that have been kept in families for generations. Harry Blackstone did the floating light bulb trick. I talked to his wife and she gave me the rights to do it. That was a big deal. It's a trick my generation doesn't know anymore.
Do you focus on grand illusions in the vein of Siegfried & Roy or do you do a lot of sleight of hand, like Lance Burton?
It's more grand illusion than Lance does, in a way. More production. We have 16 dancers, the best you could wish for. I do some sleight of hand as well, but different than Lance's show. This is also a family show, like his, but also visual. I love to keep the show moving a different way than Lance does, and I don't want to say anything negative about him because he has a great show.
You say you speeded up your production?
Yes. Normally our show is two hours. Here it's 90 minutes. We had to take some stuff out, add some new illusions.
Have you always wanted to be a magician?
Since I was 10. I wanted to be a grand illusionist because I think that is so exciting. But to become a magician I had to learn all the disciplines of magic - the sleight of hand, hypnotizing, whatever.
No regrets about your chosen profession?
No. No regrets. I'm very blessed. I'm cheating the audience and they are paying for it, but it's cheating them in a good way and if you do it in a good way they love you.
Who inspired you to become a magician?
It started when I was 10 years old and I received a magic box as a gift. Then I decided to become a magician. I had seen Siegfried & Roy on TV and they inspired me, unbelievably. I admired what they could do with tigers. I was so impressed. When I was 11, I went to a magic convention in Holland and met Siegfried. That was 27 years ago. I asked for his autograph, of course. He was still at the Stardust at that time. It was before the whole Mirage thing. He was very kind.
Siegfried & Roy changed the world of magic with what they did in the '70s and '80s. After Siegfried & Roy the whole style of magic changed. There was much more show business. We owe them a lot, actually. They are living legends.
How did Siegfried happen to be at a magic convention in Holland?
He went back to Germany to see his family and then he heard about a great variety act that was performing at a circus in Holland. He went there to see the circus, but in the same weekend there was a magic convention and he went to it. He attended one evening and I asked for his autograph and I said , "One day I will be in Vegas, too."
So, you know, this is a dream come true.
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