Clifton Hill · Niagara Falls
A 550-seat theatre near Clifton Hill stages ninety minutes of large-scale illusions and close-up magic for all ages.
Sit near the front and the close-up tricks happen within arm's reach.
The verdict
It is, if you want a seated evening indoors and your group can sit through ninety minutes. The show combines large stage illusions with sleight of hand done close to the audience, and a storyline holds the pieces together. It is billed as family entertainment for children, parents and grandparents. The catch is in the small print: food and drinks cost extra, cameras and strollers stay outside, and you need ID.
A stage magic show in a 550-seat theatre near Clifton Hill, the street of arcades and wax museums close to the falls. The ticket covers admission and sales tax. A bar, a snack counter and a magic shop are open at every performance, and a buffet dinner before the show can be added through the theatre's box office.
Nothing about it involves the falls. It is not a falls attraction and it has nothing to do with the water: you will not see the falls from your seat. It is not a dinner show unless you add the buffet yourself. And the date is not fixed in stone, because the show can be cancelled or rescheduled when too few tickets have been sold.
Families with children old enough to sit still for ninety minutes, couples on a weekend away, and anyone caught by bad weather. It suits families with babies less well, since strollers are not allowed, and anyone who wants to film the evening, since cameras are banned.
The show at a glance
Six kinds of stage magic
Stage magicians sort their tricks by what the audience appears to see happen. These categories come from encyclopaedias of the craft, not from this show's programme, which you should expect to change.
Wikipedia calls a production any effect where the magician makes something appear: a rabbit from an empty hat, a fan of cards from the air, a person on a stage that was bare a moment before. Its mirror image is the vanish, and the encyclopaedia notes the two often share a method run in reverse.
A silk changes colour, an ordinary card becomes the one a spectator chose, a woman turns into a tiger. Transformation sits beside restoration, where an object is cut, torn or smashed and then shown whole again. Wikipedia lists the woman cut in half under restoration.
Levitation makes an object or a person rise and hang in the air. Wikipedia credits the British magician John Nevil Maskelyne and his partner Cooke with inventing many illusions still performed today, levitation among the best known, and lists several named methods that performers use to produce it.
Steel rings link and unlink, swords pass through a basket with an assistant inside, a salt shaker goes through a tabletop. Wikipedia files these as penetrations, and notes that magicians argue over whether they deserve their own category or belong with restoration or teleportation.
Mentalists appear to read thoughts or predict choices. Wikipedia describes the effects as achieved by ordinary conjuring means and a working knowledge of psychology, and says many mentalists see their work as a separate art from tricks with props.
An escape puts the performer in handcuffs, a straitjacket or a locked box and lets the audience watch the way out. Harry Houdini made the genre famous, and Wikipedia records that a museum devoted to him once stood in Niagara Falls, Ontario, until a fire destroyed it in 1995.
Nothing here describes a particular trick in Niagara Magic Live or the order of its acts. The categories explain the art, and the show itself is best left unspoiled.
What the ticket covers
Admission is the only thing included. Everything else is your choice, and most of it is paid at the theatre.
Your evening, step by step
The evening in six moves. The start time for your date is printed on your confirmation.
The calendar lists each performance and its start time. Reserve now to pay later, and cancel up to 24 hours ahead if you need your money back.
Bring a passport or ID card. Leave cameras, strollers and your own food and drinks at the hotel, because none of them are allowed in.
The bar, the snack counter and the magic shop open at every performance. A buffet dinner before the show is a separate add-on, arranged with the theatre's box office.
Expect grand illusions, close-up sleight of hand and a storyline running through them. Reviewers mention audience members being brought up on stage.
One reviewer writes that the performers met the audience for photos at the end. Treat that as a bonus that may or may not happen on your night.
Clifton Hill is close by, and the falls are lit by floodlights for several hours after dark. Leave time to walk down and see them.
Magic show or SkyWheel
Around the theatre
Clifton Hill after dark, the American Falls under coloured floodlights, the observation deck at the foot of the Horseshoe Falls and the SkyWheel lit up at night.
Book the evening around it
The magic show is the evening's anchor. The SkyWheel, the tunnels behind the Horseshoe Falls and the zipline over the gorge all sit within easy reach of it.
Grand illusions, close-up sleight of hand and a storyline, in a 550-seat theatre near Clifton Hill. For all ages.
Enclosed, climate-controlled gondolas on Clifton Hill, with views of both falls and the river, by day or after dark.
Three hours with a live guide: a walk along the falls, a boat ride into the mist on options that include it, and the tunnels behind the Horseshoe Falls.
A zipline above the Niagara River gorge, past the American Falls towards the Horseshoe Falls, with a van back up. Minimum age seven.
More to book in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Know before you go
Further reading
FAQ
For most families and couples, yes. You get ninety minutes of stage illusions and close-up magic indoors, near Clifton Hill. It is less good value if you only want the falls, need a stroller inside, or want dinner included without adding it yourself.
Most will. The theatre bills it as family entertainment for kids, parents and grandparents, and one reviewer brought children aged six, nine and ten who all enjoyed it. Strollers are not allowed, so it works best for children able to sit for ninety minutes.
Around ninety minutes on stage. Your date's start time shows in the calendar and on the confirmation.
No. The theatre does not allow cameras. Take your pictures on Clifton Hill or at the falls before or after the show.
Yes. Bring a passport or an ID card; both are on the list of things to bring.
No. The ticket covers admission and sales tax. A buffet dinner before the show can be added through the theatre's box office, and the bar and snack counter sell food and drinks at every performance.
The show can be cancelled or rescheduled if a minimum group size is not met. If that happens to your date, sort out a new date or a refund through GetYourGuide, where you booked. You can also cancel free of charge yourself until 24 hours before the start.
At 5781 Ellen Avenue in Niagara Falls, Ontario, near Clifton Hill. It is on the Canadian side of the river.
Yes. The theatre is wheelchair accessible.
No. This site is run independently of the theatre, the show and its performers, and none of them is connected with it. GetYourGuide sells the tickets, and that is where every booking is made.
Prices differ by date; the calendar converts them to your currency and includes the sales tax.