The Magic of Jen Kramer

[Editor’s Note: This review appeared in the January Las Vegas Advisor. We liked the show so much (and thought it was such a fine review!) that we’re posting it here for everyone to see.]

Jen Kramer graduated from Yale University in 2014, which makes her around 26 or 27. So not only is she a rare female magician, she’s an even rarer female Millennial magician. But even as young as she is, she’s paid her dues and earned her place as a Las Vegas headliner.

Kramer was introduced to the abracadabra arts as a 10-year-old by an amateur-magician uncle, founded the Yale Magic Society in her freshman year, worked for magic-supply-distributor Fantasma, spent two summers interning at the Nathan Burton Comedy Magic Show at the Flamingo, has been featured on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” and “Masters of Illusion,” and was named Female Magician of the Year by the International Magicians Society (2016). Now she has her own production in the small theater at the Westgate.

The Magic of Jen Kramer is a one-woman show (with a lot of help from the audience, especially those in the front two rows) that mostly consists of sleight of hand, mentalism, and a charismatic style that’s surprising for such a young performer. Jen is funny, charming, quite easy on the eyes, and full of the kind of energy and enthusiasm that keep a magic show lively.

She makes a $100 bill disappear (“Welcome to Vegas!”) and reappear in an elaborate game-show format, does a neat trick with two Rubik’s cubes, links her taste buds with a volunteer’s, surrounds a puzzle-piece segment we’ve never seen before with an inspirational monologue, and makes good use of costume changes, playing cards, and a “handkerchief of mystery.”

All in all, it’s a fine 70 minutes of pre-dinner entertainment for the rock-bottom general-admission base price of $19.95 ($42.77 for the top ticket after taxes and fees).

We say: See her now, up close and personal in the intimate Westgate Cabaret, before she continues on her journey to bigger magic and better showrooms.

Wed.-Sat., 5 pm (dark Sun.-Tues)

$31.87/$42.77 (including fees)