Do you know someone who can solve a New York Times crossword puzzle in the amount of time it takes a normal person (say, me) to do a fairly difficult mini version?
Maybe someone who quickly makes up an unpronounceable puzzle from Scrabble squares, and can tell you the game value of any word without any time to calculate it?
David Kwong, whose provocative one-man show “The Enigmatist” is currently running at the Upstairs Theater at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, is such a person. A self-proclaimed geek to the max, he doesn't just complete those crossword puzzles; He creates them. He will show you how.
He is also a magician and historian as well as a master of puzzles. In fact, he studied the history of magic at Harvard. He tells us that the New York Public Library's Rare Books Department is his happy place.
One can easily imagine him studying at Hogwarts, although he happily and transparently tells us at the beginning that there is no real magic in wizardry.
These three obsessions—mysteries, magic, and history—weave together in “The Enigmatist” to create a show that works so well because of its complex—and carefully hidden—construction, and, most importantly, because it feels completely real throughout. Who is he.
You don't need to be a fan of mysteries or magic to enjoy this show, although if you are one, go. Kwong structures the evening around telling us a story, so we don't feel, as many magic acts do, as if the performer is moving from one trick to the next.
David Kwong demonstrates the art of audience-assisted crossword creation in his one-person magic/puzzle show “The Enigmatist,” currently playing in the Upstairs Theater at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
In a show where everything fits together, Kwong's story involves the origins of America's professional cryptographer, who could make more of this! – It turned out to be local. I'm surprised that I didn't know more about the eccentric millionaire from Chicago who built a laboratory on an estate in the western suburbs of Geneva and was determined, among other things, to prove that the 17th-century philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon had encoded his secret in Shakespeare's plays. Writing works. And how two of the fundamental pioneers in the field of code-breaking met and married there.
“Nerd love,” Kwong calls him, with an expression of delight.
So, yes, there is a bit of a connection to Shakespeare, but not much. The real reason this show was programmed at Chicago Shakes was that the theater's new leadership — Artistic Director Edward Hall and Executive Director Kimberly Moats — had decided, perhaps correctly, that light entertainment provided the right match between Navy Pier and summer. . While Jason Alexander performs in the Basement Theater comedy “Doomsday” – which has been a hit – Kwong's engaging, family-friendly show blends deep wit and an infectious love of language with some traditional magic tricks, like playing cards, a climate magic box and mentalism.
The show is clever — an ode to intellectual obsession — and yet entirely accessible. If I had a 10-year-old to bring, I would. I'll even sit them in the front. I enjoyed watching these children's looks of wonder as they shot quick, surprised glances at one of their accompanying parents. And – an added summer benefit! – They likely had an early introduction to the periodic table of elements, the factorial function, and binary code. Kwong loves mathematics as much as he loves language, two phenomena that bring order to apparent chaos.
The theater recommends arriving a half hour before showtime to solve a few puzzles before entering. It's a great idea, preparing the audience for a way of thinking, of mental effort as pleasure. It's also a rehearsal for some of the mysteries he'll introduce during the show, and makes you appreciate the bookshelf decoration in Brett J. Banakis' elegant production design.
In the end, Kwong shows us that he understands how much fun we can have from putting disparate pieces together, finding patterns, and discovering surprises. And this joy lies at the heart of mysteries, magic, history and storytelling.
