Joe Labero, Magic Master at Sky City Theatre

By GILBERT WONG

Driving rock music reminiscent of the Mission Impossible theme accompanies video footage of a blond-haired international man of mystery. He hops out of stretch limos accompanied by a buxom female companion in a tight, short skirt. They are seen in Monaco and other European settings, striding into luxurious hotels.

It might be self-parody, but Joe Labero looks to be treating it all seriously. Despite what might be gleaned from his surname, he's Swedish and speaks with a blurred mid-Atlantic accent. He seems to own a leather jacket and pants for every occasion, grasps the hands of women young and old to kiss, and when he discovers the name of a young woman in the audience, he responds in husky fashion, staring deep into her eyes: "That's a beautiful name."

All of which brings to mind the unkind word "eurotrash". But Labero is a magician, not quite in the league of David Copperfield but very accomplished.

He brings giant props to the stage, including a torture device called The Table of Death, a Harley Davidson which he rides with abandon, and a series of clever boxes into which he puts beautiful assistants only to then thrust sharp implements through them, which in hindsight could be terribly Freudian.

Labero's show has state-of-the-art stage effects, featuring smoke pots, flash explosions and evocative stage backdrops and lighting, as the magic master journeys to locations ranging from the African desert to Nordic ice. Backing him are a hardworking quartet of dancers.

The big-scale tricks, disappearing Harleys, dancers and the man himself are contrasted with dextrous sleight of hand that to my mind really shows Labero's skill. A standout is his linking rings with, yes, actual rings borrowed from the audience. His card skills have probably earned him a ban at the gaming tables of the casinos he performs in.

Throughout all this Labero maintains a patter sprinkled with ancient jokes, cutely timed, but in the end the mystery of how he does it all remains.