08 they ’ re gone . Everybody wants a show in Las Vegas . You ’ re going to lose money the first year , or the first two years ..’
The Strat is a 650-seat theater . Every night at least 97 tickets need to be sold before any profit is made .
“ I have Tuesdays off , and on Tuesdays I go out and see brokers , timeshare people , and that ’ s my day for doing interviews . It doesn ’ t stop . There is no such thing as a day off for me . It ’ s go , go , go .”
More than 600 shows into his run at the STRAT , how does he stand out from both the short-term and long-lived shows around him ?
“ In my Vegas show , I ’ ve tried to keep it a little educational , but not too educational – I need the entertainment aspect . I don ’ t know if that ’ s hurting me or not , but it ’ s also making it distinctly different from any other mentalists that are in town .”
If you haven ’ t yet seen Mind Games , it ’ s way more than just mindreading . It ’ s a multi-sensory , creative and historically rich journey into Banachek ’ s world and life . He breaks the olden-day stereotype that a full length mentalism is either serious or boring .
Pace , intimacy , layers , and structure are just some of the elements he delicately manipulates and masters night after night . “ Your show should have a roller coaster effect . I want the highs , I want the lows , and I want those moments changing ,” he explains .
“ I need to have a beginning , a middle , and an end . After I ’ ve done mind reading , I go into prediction effects , then I move to the knife test and then I get into a confabulation . So there ’ s a logical transgression . You ’ re going from Mindreading , to mind over matter , your brain is tired so now you are logically left with what you predicted before the show , before you exerted your brain power during the performance , in other words , you are building to that point of the final climax of the show that was set in place before you started your journey with the audience .”
VANISH SPECIAL EDITION 2024
While it sounds like Banachek ’ s structure is wellplanned and methodical , he says , “ the key is to be