Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Florida - West Coast

The Cardshark
Florida Studio Theatre
Review by William S. Oser | Season Schedule

Also see Bill's review of Cyrano de Burgershack


Jason Michaels
Photo Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre
Jason Michaels is The Cardshark and is appearing at Florida Studio Theatre's Court Cabaret as the second event in the Summer Cabaret Series.

Jason Michaels has toured all over the United States and the world including Nashville, Chicago, Atlantic city, Las Vegas, Orlando, Shanghai, Beijing and London. The Cardshark is an interactive show, as audience members are called upon to assist our star in his sleight of hand card manipulations. He regales us with stories from his past including how he first developed interest and talent at card handling, his tale of woe about being swindled out of $10,000.00 just after college and, best of all, a studied look at Three-Card Monte.

Each narrative is illustrated with deft card handling, including bring all four aces to the top of the deck and similar feats with four kings. Much of the act is performed with Mr. Michaels seated at a table, shown to the audience via a web type camera. I might have wished that the polarity of the camera had been reversed, because action that the audience clearly sees as moving left to right shows on the camera moving right to left which caused me some confusion. No matter, Mr. Michaels is an engaging performer and his stories and sleight of hand are good enough to dazzle the audiences.

The Cardshark is a fun two-hour show that should prove entertaining to Sarasota audiences.

Florida Studio Theatre presents The Cardshark through August 21, 2016, at the Court Cabaret 1241 N. Palm Avenue, Sarasota. For tickets and performance information, please call the box office at (941) 366-9000 or visit www.floridastudiotheatre.org.