The setting proved an apt backdrop for Cohen’s act, which owes a considerable debt to Johann Hofzinser, the 19th-century Austrian known as the father of card magic.

The pleasure of a magic show is in allowing yourself to be amazed

We pay good money to people who can trick us. We long for the impossible, and what Miguel Puga does is impossible, but there it is.

Johnny arrived in the morning and we started to work immediately on his suggestions and ideas.

Spanish magician Miguel Puga merges music and illusion in a crowd-pleasing show.

t’s a short, sweet magic show where the assistant doesn’t mutely stand at the magician’s side in a sequined suit but plays a grand piano instead.

The piano gets equal billing in Miguel Puga and Miguel Aparicio’s show Concerto for Piano & Pasteboards, being presented in the opening days of Luminato. But this is really all about 90 minutes of Puga’s magic tricks, not the art of the keyboard.

For a sneak preview of Steve Cohen’s talk with David Ben in Luminato’s Lunchtime Illuminations (to be held on Wednesday, June 19 @ noon), the Millionaire’s Magician talks about the similarities between a great magic performance and an intimate and well thought-out culinary experience.