Rowdy Imagination Fuels ‘Rudy Coby’

“The Rudy Coby Show” at Magicopolis is billed as “magical sci-fi theater of the absurd.” Cirque du Soleil it’s not, especially considering the nagging technical problems of the opening weekend. However, magician Rudy Coby and a variety of able assistants deliver an impressive degree of magic and no mean amount of absurdity in this freewheeling, vastly appealing entertainment, which scores high on the gross scale, to the delight of kids and adults alike. The show appropriately marks the one-year anniversary of Magicopolis, a family-friendly magic venue open to the general public just off the Santa Monica Promenade.

With his dark glasses and bizarre hairdo--a 5-inch-tall black pompadour that looks like it just got its second coat of spar varnish--Coby’s popular character, Labman, is a cartoon come to life. If you take your kids, as soon as they get home they’ll probably dig out their Blues Brothers specs, spike their hair, and strike the signature Labman pose--arms akimbo, face in profile, chin upwardly tilted. That’s all part of the fun.

Part of the fun, too, are the simple magic tricks that Coby demonstrates especially for children. The tricks, which require ordinary household objects like a fork or a plastic cup, are perfect for the younger crowd to shock and amaze their friends.

Some of the gorier passages--such as a Grand Guignol-esque stunt in which Coby hacks at his own forearm with a knife--may prove a bit much for sensitive souls, and a final illusion, in which a tiny marionette transforms into a vengeful full-sized puppet, ends on a shocking note.

However, the violence is as cartoonish as Coby’s character. Under his punked-out persona, Coby is an engaging performer who radiates niceness and interacts well with his audience. And let’s face it, working with audience volunteers, especially children, can be as risky as escaping from a straitjacket under a frozen lake.

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* “The Rudy Coby Show,” Magicopolis’ Abracadabra Theatre, 1418 4th St., Santa Monica. Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 31. $15-$20. (310) 451-2241. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.