Audience big part of Chris Capehart's act at Pittsburgh's Liberty Magic

Master magician Christ Capehart is thinking about a Terrible Towel trick for his upcoming stint at Liberty Magic. His act employs a lot of audience participation, so it’s a no-brainer to include something Pittsburgh-centric, he said.

The Delaware-based magician is first up as the theater in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District reopens after the pandemic shutdown.

After being postponed three times, his “Journey of the Master” starts Wednesday. It will run through Oct. 29 with shows Wednesdays through Sundays — including two performances on Saturdays, one of which is geared toward children.

“Every time I do my act it’s a little different because you can never tell what the audience is gonna do,” he said. “If someone comes up on stage in holey pants, I’ll say, ‘I’m glad you dressed up tonight.”

He’ll offer that person $100 if they can figure out his next trick.

“Then I’ll say, ‘What are you gonna do with that $100 — buy some new pants?’”

In a 47-year career, Capehart “has performed in the world’s most prominent theaters, become an accomplished street performer, created routines for the biggest names in magic, and conquered the ancient techniques behind the linking rings,” according to a release from Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which operates Liberty Magic. “His skills in the art of close-up performance are no less than astonishing.”

Capehart modeled himself on classic performers such as Al Jolson, Jack Benny, George Burns and Don Rickles.

“I do the quick comebacks, but I’m more likable than Don Rickles,” he said. “My act is clean. I do comedy without cursing — I still zing you, but in a nice way.”

Informal apprentice

Capehart learned magic as a sort of informal apprentice to Earl “Presto” Johnson, a vaudeville-style magician who he met unexpectedly.

At around age 20, the Philadelphia native was doing deliveries in New York City for a group of Park Avenue lawyers. One job took him to Harlem, where he saw a sign for a circus playing the famed Apollo Theater.

“The ad was for a famous African American magician,” Capehart said. “I’d never heard of a Black magician before, so instead of going back to work, I went to the circus.”

After the show, he approached Johnson, who agreed to show him a small trick. Every time Capehart mastered a trick, Johnson said, he would teach him another.

Eventually, he “got brave enough to do something in front of the lawyers,” which led to his first paid gig at a birthday party. Then it was on to performing on street corners and in bigger and bigger venues around the country and overseas, all the while developing his own unique tricks.

“I don’t know where that comes from,” Capehart said. “In a past life, I think I was a magician.”

Following Capehart on the Liberty Magic schedule are:

Jade in “A Woman’s Touch,” Nov. 3-28

Jade’s magic draws from her Chinese heritage and her childhood on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. She has performed on luxury cruise lines and in theaters and casino revue shows in Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas. She received France’s most prestigious magic honor, the Golden Mandrake Award, and the International Magicians Society’s“Best Female Magician of the Year” award. Among her career highlights is a performance for Monaco’s royal family.

“A Woman’s Touch” is described as “an intriguing look at how magic and reality coexist in our lives. Not just for the magician, but for everyone.”

Eric Risberg/AP

Jade the Magician (right) performs a disappearing bottle trick with her son during a 2016 Chinese New Year festival in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Siegfried Tieber in “Sixty-Seven Keys,” Dec. 1-Jan. 2

“Sixty-Seven Keys” is inspired by “The Seven Keys to Baldpate,” a 1913 book about a man seeking peace and quiet at a secluded inn, only to be distracted by people who also have keys to his chamber. The performance presents its own set of obstacles to overcome as its mysteries unfold.

Storyteller and magician Tieber uses sleight of hand, magic and illusion to guide his audience through an unlikely journey unlocked by a single key selected by each night’s audience.

The Evasons in “Second Sight,” Jan. 5-30

Jeff and Tessa Evason are described as one of the very few couples in history to have mastered the art of two-person telepathy. Tessa perceives information about birth dates, personal items, a serial number on any bill in a borrowed wallet or the name of distant loved ones, all while standing on stage wearing a blindfold.

The Evasons have performed at private parties and gala events in more than 38 countries. They’ve appeared on network television both at home and abroad and have received some of the top awards in the fields of magic and psychic entertainment.

Eric Jones in “Immaculate Deception,” Feb. 2-27

Drawing inspiration from Pittsburgh’s history of miraculous moments — including Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception” — Jones, Liberty Magic’s inaugural magician and artistic adviser, returns to its stage for a third residency. The brand-new show features “perplexing prestidigitation created with Pittsburgh in mind.”

Hailing from Philadelphia, Jones has appeared on Comedy Central and on The CW’s “Masters of Illusion.” He successfully fooled Penn and Teller on “Fool Us” and was a top-12 contestant on Season 12 of “America’s Got Talent.” The award-winner has been showcased at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and Monday Night Magic, New York City’s longest-running off-Broadway magic show, and has appeared on television in 19 countries.

Jon Tai in “Road Signs,” March 2-April 3

Troy Hill resident Jon Tai is best known for having co-created and starred in “Missed Connections” at off-Broadway’s Drama Desk Award-winning 59E59 Theaters in New York City, following a sold-out run at Chicago’s award-winning A Red Orchid Theatre Company.

While “Missed Connections” took audience members on a cosmic mission across the multiverse, PCT says “Road Signs” promises to be an “earthly exploration of the quintessential American road trip and the various magical encounters one faces along the way.”

Details: 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org