Eric Buss offers comedy, a little skin with his magic

By Cathalena E. Burch
Arizona Daily Star

Eric Buss likes to mix a little comedy with his magic.

And a little skin.

It's almost as if he forgets there's an audience watching as he slips comfortable into a setting resembling his apartment and begins disrobing. With each item he removes - shirts, socks, shoes, pants, right down to his skivvies - he pulls rabbits, birds and other tools of the trade from his pockets, sleeves and other recesses.

This is what it's like for magicians once the spotlight dims, or so Buss would have you believe.

The show, "…After the Gig," has earned the Tucson native international kudos, but there's always been one little kink: making the transition from almost nude to fully clothed so he can continue his humor-infused brand of magic.

Simple: Get dressed in the same manner.

On Monday, Buss will debut "…Before the Gig" for hometown fans at the monthly "It's Magic Show" at The Gaslight Theatre. He shares the stage with fire-eating illusionist Loren Christopher Michaels.

"It's kind of like the plot of 'Pulp Fiction.' Start at the end, go to the beginning, then close with the middle," Buss explained last week from a motel room in New Jersey, where he was attending a magicians' conference.

"…Before" rewinds "…After"; instead of disrobing, he gets dressed putting things up his sleeves as he goes along.

When he's fully dressed, the 1993 Sahuaro High graduates performs more of his often hilarious magic.

Buss, who studied theater at Northern Arizona University, got his start in magic when he was 16. He had been a fan of the art growing up watching the likes of David Copperfield. But he never entertained ideas of actually trying magic himself until he hooked up with fellow magician Adrian Van Vactor when the pair worked at an east side pizza joint during high school.

Hooked, Buss became a regular of Williams Magic & Noveltie, a hot spot for local magicians and wannabes. There, veteran magicians were happy to show him a few techniques and encouraged him on ways to hone his stage act.

Almost a decade later, Buss has traveled the glove, from Canada to Europe and throughout the United States - something he wouldn't have been able to do if he had gone with Career Plan A: physics.

"I love (magic). I wouldn't change it for anything."