Keith Brown brings his award-winning magic show to Tampa Fringe

Keith Brown ’s “Absolute Magic” combines magic and storytelling in an hour-long show that recently won the Critic’s Choice Award for Best Magic Show at the 2023 Orlando Fringe.

“Someone offered me money when I was 13 years old to work in a bar, and my parents let me do that,” Brown, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay about his first gig. “Things kind of snowballed from there.”

That bar was a college pub called Christina’s Paul at the gates of Western University in London, Ontario. A card trick for the owner turned into an invitation to perform at a charity event and then a steady gig performing three nights a week. At around 16-17 years old, Brown discovered Fringe in his hometown of London, Ontario. His first London Fringe performance, in 2011, earned him an Impresario Award. Brown’s been Fringing ever since; 2024 marks Brown’s 10th year on the circuit. By the end of summer, he’ll have performed his 50th Fringe show.

“I really like the Fringe because you get to build a sense of community and you get to see patrons and artists year after year,” Keith told Creative Loafing. “I’m at the Orlando Fringe right now, and we just had the teaser/preview night. It’s like the first night that any of us have seen each other for a year, so it’s like a big family reunion.”

In fact, Orlando magician and brain cancer survivor Sebastian Gerhardt is also bringing his show, "The Other Side: A Brain-Bending Magic Show," to Tampa Fringe.

As an audience member, Brown enjoys the festival’s affordability and unpredictability.

“It’s also a chance to see a bunch of stuff that you wouldn’t normally go see, and you get to do it for cheap,” Brown told CL. “It’s not like you’re going to Broadway and spending hundreds of dollars. You also might not see a Broadway-level show. You might see a complete piece of shit, but that’s part of the fun of Fringe. You could see a total train wreck, or you could see something amazing. Worse comes to worse, it’s like an hour of your time and $10. Or best comes to best, you think, ‘I can’t believe I only spent $10 for that. I should have paid way more.’ You get to see a whole range of artists at different levels, and you get to see weird and wacky things that are, you know, on the fringe.”

“Absolute Magic” is one of the first shows Brown brought on tour. He’s been performing and perfecting it for close to a decade.

“It’s definitely changed over time,” Brown told CL, “because you get better as a performer, you update some of the tricks and you update the stories as well.”

Tampa sees a more refined version of Brown’s family-friendly magic show Father’s Day weekend. Fri. June 14, 7 p.m.; Sat. June 15, 4:45 p.m.; Sun. June 16, 1:15 p.m. West Annex, Kress Contemporary. 1624 E 7th Ave., Ybor City. Tickets are $15.

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