‘Do you believe that free will is just an illusion?” Rob Drummond asks in “Bullet Catch.” Whether you do or not, you’ll willingly suspend your disbelief watching this mesmerizing solo show, about one of magic’s most notorious illusions.
A stunt so dangerous even Houdini refused to perform it, the bullet catch has killed several magicians since it was first devised in the 17th century. Drummond uses it as a springboard for ruminating about life and death and the supposedly true story of William Henderson, a Victorian-era magician who died trying to catch a bullet.
Drummond himself performs a series of illusions, many of the mentalist variety. He performs in front of hand-painted signs featuring the words “Kill,” “Save” and “Love,” riffing on Freud’s theory about our innate reactions upon meeting a person for the first time.
So disarmingly mild-mannered that he seems almost embarrassed when a trick goes well, Drummond manages to levitate a small table. But it’s even more compelling when he silently demonstrates exactly how it was achieved, after warning anyone who doesn’t want to know to cover their eyes.
He periodically returns to the story of Henderson, reciting letters written by the hapless spectator who shot him. A haunting question is raised: Was it a horrible accident — or suicide?
Drummond engages with the audience, assigning someone to fire a gun for the titular stunt at the climax. Since the show runs for another couple of weeks, you can guess how it went — but the suspense was so unbearable, at least one theatergoer left before the gun went off.
It’s all hokum, of course, and the piece doesn’t quite succeed in tying its ambitious thematic threads together. But, like magic itself, “Bullet Catch” exerts a haunting spell nonetheless.