McBride’s Confounding Act of Two Magic Hats

Jeff McBride, the magician at Magicopolis’ Abracadabra Theater in Santa Monica, creates some remarkable and baffling sights, but there is an odd dissonance between the two sides of his personality.

When he’s doing the more challenging magic, he’s usually a man of mystery. His best-known specialty is masks, which he whips on and off almost instantaneously, creating a parade of colorful but unsmiling visages, throwing in unsettling touches, like the illusion of blood. He wears the exotic outfits you expect from a magician, as opposed to the more everyday clothes of, say, Penn and Teller. Thoughts of the Phantom of the Opera come to mind. During much of McBride’s act, loud New Age-style rock pounds from the soundtrack.

When he takes off his masks and talks to the audience, however, McBride appears to be an exceptionally nice guy, one who doesn’t begin to suggest danger, cynicism or anything negative. He has a rounded face and longish hair, reminiscent of Paul McCartney. He smiles a lot. This side of him is ideal for interacting with children. At his performance on Thursday, he drew a young man named Jake out of the audience for a set involving percussive effects, and their teamwork proved absolutely charming.

In his narration, McBride acknowledges that “there has always been a light and a dark side of magic.” He apparently wants to evoke both. Yet there are moments when the nice Jeff diminishes the intensity of the scary Jeff, when the bland Jeff stifles the sense of awe that might develop out of the work of the mysterious Jeff. McBride’s descriptions of the history of magic, which provide the segues into many of his acts, are unsophisticated to the point of sometimes sounding trite, especially for those who have seen Ricky Jay.

McBride introduces one segment by referring to “the exotic Japanese magic--Kabuki.” In the scene that follows, two of McBride’s helpers are, indeed, dressed in severe Kabuki style, but the subsequent levitation of a maskless woman, who doesn’t look remotely Japanese, is more reminiscent of “Aladdin.”

In discussing persecution of magicians during the Inquisition, the reassuring McBride can’t help but crack that “if you were a magician, you were toast.” Later, demonstrating a “Spanish torture rack” from which he’ll escape, he uses an audience member to examine the locks and make sure “everything’s cool.” Then McBride smiles as he’s being locked up. This may be exactly what parents of young children want, but older kids and adults might prefer at least a trace of anxiety during this scene.

Scott Hitchcock provides an intimate and engaging warmup act and later dances with Joan DuKore in a high-spirited combination of jitterbug and illusion.

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* “McBride--Magic!,” Abracadabra Theater, Magicopolis, 1418 4th St., Santa Monica. Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m.; Tuesday-Friday, 8 p.m. Ends May 2. $15-$20. (310) 451-2241. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.