Comedy, Magic, History Come Together In New Philly Tour Experience

PHILADELPHIA — With the amount of history in Philadelphia, those looking to learn some facts have plenty of options to do so.

But now, there is a new experience that melds history, magic, and comedy.

Philadelphia native and comedic magician Robert Malissa has launched Philadelphia’s first comedy magic tour with the Great Philadelphia Comedy Magic Walk.

The city tour combines historic and offbeat locations, theatrical presentations (including a card trick song to a tune from "Les Misérables"), audience participation, comedy, and magic tricks performed just a few feet away from participants.

There are eight presentations in the tour, and each one is designed based on a different street location.

For example, in a spot close to Ben Franklin's house Malissa seemingly makes a coin penetrate a glass bottle in reference to Franklin's adage, "a penny saved is a penny earned."

Malissa also performs a spirit writing demonstration in an alley ominously named "Little Boys Court."

The walking tour is also interactive.

In one trick, participants are told about the street layout of Philadelphia as designed by William Penn and depicted in the pavement of the plaza at Welcome Park.

Each person lines up on the first street and is told to advance forward to a new street every time they get a trivia question correct.

The number of people on each street is counted, thereby generating a random number.

A prediction in full view the entire time is found to match the randomly generated number.

Malissa, an award-winning magician who began performing magic when he was 10, spent two years walking around Philly to come up with the route, and another year working on the combination of tricks and presentations for the various locations.

The first version of the walk was part of the 2021 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

After the Fringe show, Malissa sent a questionnaire to all participants, asking them to rate each trick.

Based on the responses, he identified the weaker material and upgraded the show.

Encouraged by the high approval rating achieved by this early version, he is now running the tour every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in October part of the 2022 tourism season in Philadelphia.

Each show is different, as Malissa adapts it to the city’s ever-changing panorama.

The inaugural tour is also providing Malissa an opportunity to refine the show.

Initially, he found transporting his props from one location to another across cobbled streets was challenging.

"When I got to a site, instead of the props being within easy reach it looked like they had been in a blender, everything was mixed together," he said.

Malissa solved the problem with version 2.0 of the cart he built for moving props.

So far, the show has been an unqualified success, affirming Malissa’s instincts and passion for his unique blend of magic and comedy.

"I don’t believe in embarrassing anyone in the audience, as sometimes happens with comedians or magicians," he said. "Rather, I love to share the joy of the Art of Astonishment. Even though I present things in a comedic way, I leave space for that powerful feeling of amazement to come through."

Building camaraderie with his audience is also a core part of Malissa’s approach to entertainment.

He asks participants to bond during the hour-and-a-half show as part of an exercise called "The Trust Leap of Death."

And the approach is clearly paying off.

Malissa is getting lots of five-star reviews and comments like "Best part of my trip to Philly," and will be expanding the number of dates for his Comedy Magic Walking Tour in the 2023 season.

It's no surprise he is getting good reviews.

Malissa won the Philadelphia Houdini Club trophy, the Philadelphia version of the Stanley Cup for magic.

The trophy was presented to the Club by Bess Houdini, the widow of the late Harry Houdini.

Winners’ names are etched into a plaque that is part of a book containing Houdini memorabilia.

He tied for first place in close-up sleight of hand and was awarded second place in stage magic at the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of American Magicians.

For more information on the Comedy Magic Walk or to attend the show, contact Malissa at info@phillymagictours.com, or 267-566-8897, or go online here.