“Death-Defying Escape”, a comedy and magic show about dealing with the past

When comedian and magician Judy Carter was eight years old, she began performing magic in an attempt to escape the circumstances of her life. She had a speech impediment, her father was an alcoholic and her sister was disabled. In short, there was a dysfunctional family dynamic.

“The joke I’m making is there was so much screaming and screaming in our house, we had a wailing wall in our living room,” she said. “I wanted to do some real magic and levitate my sister out of her wheelchair and make my dad disappear.”

Now Carter is opening up about her past and incorporating stage magic in her new show “A Death-Defying Escape,” which runs April 2 through May 15 at the Hudson Guild Theater and is streaming online.

Carter started out in show business as a magician. She became the first woman to perform in the close-up gallery of the Magic Castle and one of the first female magicians on “The Merv Griffin Show”, “The Mike Douglas Show” and Showtime.

During a tour, the airlines lost his luggage containing all his magic accessories. She called her manager, as she wasn’t sure she could go on without the props. “My manager said, ‘I don’t care. You have to go on without them,” she said. “That’s how I instantly became an actor. I started talking about all the magic I was going to do and people were laughing.

This led to a number of opportunities, including headlining for 17 years and opening for Prince in the early 90s. he was the shyest guy you could ever meet,” she said. “He was so nice. At first, I didn’t know how this little Jewish girl could support his audience, but it went so well that he took me on tour with him.

Carter said that where she lived, the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, “has more Jews by percentage than Israel. I was surrounded by Jews. I met my first good guy when I went to college.

Raised “deeply culturally Jewish,” Carter said that where she lived, the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, “had more Jews by percentage than Israel. I was surrounded by Jews. I went to university.

One of his concerts included performances for soldiers in Israel. “I didn’t understand anything, so I’m sure they were heckling me and saying ‘You suck’, but I was like ‘Todah rabah!””

Carter, who is also an inspirational speaker and author of “The Comedy Bible” — a book that landed her on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” — thought of writing “Death-Defying Escape” several years ago when he lived in her subconsciously.

“It was an idea that kept coming back to me in my dreams,” she said. “I believe that creativity comes from God. That’s where my best ideas come from.

In “Death-Defying Escape”, Carter uses magic as a metaphor to “escape” the dysfunction of the past. She created the illusions with help from the same person who works on David Copperfield’s illusions. Drawing on her motivational teachings, she also gives the audience inspirational messages.

“I had a burning desire to write this play to show the audience that whatever tragedy has happened in your life can be turned into comedy,” she said. “There’s nothing so serious that it can’t be laughed at.”

When COVID emerged, it only convinced Carter that she needed to make sure audiences could see her play, which took five years to write.

“That’s another message I wanted to convey to the public: no matter what happened to you, laughter and love are always possible.” -Judy Carter

“I felt like anyone could use magic and a great story with lots of laughs,” she said. “It’s also a love story about how I found love at 60. That’s another message I wanted to convey to the audience: no matter what happened to you, laughter and love are always possible. It’s a play about hope. That’s why I wrote it.

You can purchase tickets for the show at deathdefyingescape.com.