Scottish-born Hollywood actor Steve Valentine is returning to his roots…in magic. He’s garnering rave reviews on the way, and coming to Guelph’s River Run Centre on September 16.
Valentine arrived in Hollywood in 1999, eager to wow audiences and film producers with his two passions: magic and acting. But he discovered, to his chagrin, that the powers that be didn’t want him to be both a magician and an actor; he had to choose. “You just can’t be two things in Hollywood, they don’t make the pigeonholes big enough,” said Valentine.
So, he gave up the magical half of his passions, and forged a career in Hollywood. Valentine was lead in “I’m in the Band”, and had numerous TV and film roles, including in “The Big Bang Theory”, “CSI”, “Anger Management”, “Mike and Molly”, “Supergirl”, and “Crossing Jordan”.
Finally, after over 20 years in Tinseltown, a series of bizarre coincidences and three stunning moments of what Valentine calls “real life magic” got his attention and forced a change. The result? A highly acclaimed, one-man show of wizardry, magic, and acting, that Pauline Adamek at Arts Beat LA called “Dazzling, hilarious, fast-paced and introspective.”
Valentine, Magic Castle Stage Magician of the Year, and two-time Magic Castle Close Up Magician of the Year, digs deep into his past, and exposes it and Tinseltown, warts and all, in this poignant, magical story of his life journey.
“I wanted it to be real and honest, two words not exactly synonymous with Hollywood,” he said. “The response has been overwhelming. I’m so grateful, and thrilled that this story connects with people. Many leave the theatre chanting the theme, #magicisreal, and some have even said they feel hope for the first time in a long time.”
Valentine pulled all his experience and Tinseltown contacts together to make the show work, including a trick he invented that was built by Spectral Motion, the powerhouse Hollywood special effects studio. “It’s the fastest, funniest and most expensive thing in the show, and something I could never have done way back then,” he said.
Audiences in Guelph will thrill to Life and Other Deceptions, the one-man show featuring Steve Valentine, the actor, and the magician.
Valentine mused, “I think what works in the end is that this is a very human story. The world is so divisive right now and yet this show is about how I believe we are all connected, all on the same journey searching for love, laughter and wonder, and in my show I have proof, maybe it’s just the right time for this.”
Life and Other Deceptions is at the River Run Theatre in Guelph for one night only, Saturday September 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.