Magic @ The Exit ... (Café)

"When you're doing comedy and magic and the magic doesn't work, it's just comedy," says Christian Cagigel with a goofy smile when one of his tricks goes awry. Failure doesn't do much for a magician's reputation, but in this guy's wacky act, it works. Combining (mostly) deftly executed sleight-of-hand tricks with other elements of sideshow-style sorcery, Cagigel's brand of magic is the kind you would have seen at Victorian fairgrounds 150 years ago. The bite-size show might be uneven, veering from the brilliant -- check out the bit involving a lemon and a $20 bill -- to the overblown (a halfhearted human pincushion routine doesn't quite live up to the promise of the speech about Indian fakirs sleeping on beds of nails that precedes it). But even the most hackneyed shtick is transformed into intimate spectacle via Cagigel's wry sense of humor, ability to work the crowd, and considerable conjuring skills. It's no coincidence that "Cagigel" rhymes with "magical."