Interview: Andy Gross, performing at The Lincoln Theatre in Belleville

Andy Gross, famously referred to as “Split Man” after a video of a magic act the performer filmed for YouTube where he came upon strangers with the illusion of being split in half went viral, will be headlining a show at The Lincoln Theatre in Belleville, Illinois this Saturday. Gross, who is originally from the area, will be returning home for the performance, but being split in half isn’t the only thing the performer has up his sleeve.

Known for his modern take on many classic magic acts, as well as his unique ventriloquism and combining his act with a joyful bit of comedy, the show will be a culmination of what Gross says are all of his favorite performance pieces. Ahead of his show this Saturday, he spoke with ReviewSTL to answer some questions.

Starting with discussing his viral video, Gross stated had been performing his Split Man trick on stage before it became a viral sensation.

“I was performing Split Man on stage for a while, before I did it on the streets, like the gorilla-style video. Cutting someone in half is one of the oldest magic tricks out there. There are writings on cave walls showing people doing magic tricks like that. I thought the big boxes that older magicians have used were getting outdated. I had a way where I could make this modern, and if someone was really cut in half, why would they need a big box around them? I decided to go down to the park by my house. My daughter, who was maybe 12 or 13 at the time, brought an iPhone with her. We had just moved into a new house. I told my wife I was going to go down to the park to try this trick that I do on stage, I thought I’d get some good reactions. She looked at me like I had lost my mind. She said ‘Is this the way you want to meet the new neighbors? You want to go down to the park and jump from behind trees and growl at people?’”

At the time, Gross had no idea that the video would take off in the fashion that it did. He recounted the video had actually been uploaded for months before it took off, and when it did, it had over a million views by the following morning. Gross laughed that he was at dinner and his daughter kept phoning him with the news that the video was garnering views by the tens of thousands. And, then the texts started to roll in. It wasn’t long before Good Morning America was waking up Gross with a phone call asking to
show the video in a segment, and soon after Gross was asked to make several television appearances.

But, getting cut in half is only part of the show. Gross discussed how his ambition to revamp and modernize some of the most classic stage magic tricks heavily influenced his show, which he found worked well when combined with a comedic element.

“The show is a more modern and updated look on magic, I guess you could say. I wanted to get away from the things that became outdated once magicians started doing street magic. I wanted to keep that same energy that you see with street magic.”

Perhaps one of the most impressive tricks from Gross is his ability to throw his voice, a technique he mastered when he was younger.

“One of my favorite things to do is the ventriloquism voice throwing. One of the first things I wanted to learn as a kid was how to throw my voice, and make it sound like it was coming from far away, or beneath the stage or trapped in a closet or trunk. I worked really hard to do that. You don’t need anything special to do that, no special props, you don’t need anything. I’ve had so much fun with that and getting to fool people. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”

He actually threw his voice for me during the interview, and it was one of the most impressive things I’ve heard when it comes to mastering the control of one’s own voice.

“I remembered when I first started doing it because people weren’t really reacting. People thought I was using one of those sound boxes (referring to a voice box controlled by a button or remote,) and they didn’t know it was actually me. So, I learned how to set it up differently.” Gross would like audiences to know that all the voices you hear will be coming from him, even if they don’t sound like there are, which he followed with a chuckle.

I asked what fans had to look forward to with the upcoming show this weekend.

“I always tell people that it isn’t your traditional magic show, where I come out with a black tuxedo and release some birds, which would still be cool. I like to tell people that it is comedy first and foremost, and a lot of audience participation. There is some mind reading, and we do use a lot of audience volunteers.”

While the show is suitable for all ages and is family friendly, Gross stated that show is still mature and sophisticated enough that even two adults on a date night will have a good time.

Growing up in the Saint Louis-Metro area, Gross said he has a few things that will be exciting for this particular show. He joked that there is a particular pressure when performing back home where his family and friends are there. Tickets are available for the show and can be purchased at www.lincolntheatre-belleville.com. The event is at 7:30 and tickets are still available! There are even VIP tickets still available, which include a special group lesson following the show where audience members can learn a floating-card magic trick. Check out the website listed above for more details on the show!