After more than 9,000 performances, mentalist Jason Bird brings his intimate Parlor of Impossibilities to DELAMAR.
For all the years Jason Bird has spent performing in Las Vegas showrooms and on national television, the setting he finds most exciting is not a vast theater. It is a room of just 60 people, sitting close enough to see his every move.
That is the idea behind Parlor of Impossibilities, Bird’s intimate evening of magic and mentalism coming to DELAMAR West Hartford, Westport and Mystic this fall and winter. “I spent years performing big shows in big rooms,” Bird says. “But there is something entirely different about magic when the audience is only a few feet away.
You can see everything. You can hear everything. There’s nowhere for me to disappear, and that’s exactly what makes it exciting.”
Inspired by the parlor and salon performances of an earlier era, the show removes the usual distance between magician and audience. Guests may find themselves holding an object, making a choice or becoming part of the evening without quite knowing where it will lead. There are no enormous sets or elaborate production numbers.
Instead, Bird works with sleight of hand, psychological illusion, mind reading, storytelling and humor. Predictions are made, thoughts appear to be uncovered and ordinary objects behave in ways they probably shouldn’t.
Because it all happens at close range, the audience has a very different role. They are not simply watching from across a theater. They can follow Bird’s hands, listen to every word and occasionally become part of what is happening. That closeness gives the performance its tension and much of its fun. The show is sophisticated but never overly serious. It is meant to feel less like a traditional stage production and more like being invited into a private room where something unexpected is about to happen.
Bird’s career has taken him from Las Vegas showrooms to performances for Fortune 100 companies, celebrities, professional athletes and royal families. He has appeared on NBC, FOX and The CW’s Masters of Illusion, and his corporate clients have included Google, American Express, Microsoft, BMW and AT&T. But even after thousands of performances, he says no two audiences are quite the same.
“The audience still has a way of surprising me,” Bird says.
“That’s partly why I love what I do. It’s always something different.” What remains consistent is the reaction.
“Even though people might come from all walks of life, they still have a universal response to magic: wonder,” he says. “We’re all still kids at heart.”
Parlor of Impossibilities first came to DELAMAR West Hartford, where sold-out performances revealed an appetite for this more intimate form of entertainment. The partnership has since expanded to DELAMAR Westport, with a special December performance now planned for DELAMAR Mystic as well.
The setting is part of what makes the evening work. Guests can begin with dinner or a cocktail at DELAMAR before entering the Parlor, turning the performance into a complete night out. Once inside, the scale shifts. The room is smaller, the audience is closer and the evening takes on the feeling of a private gathering.
It is a format that suits Bird. Large productions can impress through spectacle, but close-up magic depends on the performer’s relationship with the people in front of him. Bird’s style is conversational. He allows the humor and personalities in the room to become part of the show, making each performance slightly different from the one before it.
And while guests will almost certainly leave wondering how he managed to do what they just witnessed, Bird isn’t especially interested in having them spend the rest of the evening trying to work out the mechanics of every illusion.
“I don’t necessarily want people leaving the show asking, ‘How did he do that?’” he says. “I want to challenge people’s notions of perception and the nature of reality. Things aren’t always what they seem, and just maybe we’re seeing only a small sliver of what’s really out there.”
Most of all, he wants people to be entertained and to leave with a shared experience they will continue talking about long after the night is over.
Whether guests depart questioning perception, reality or simply how Bird knew exactly what they were thinking, that may be the best trick of the evening.
THE PARLOR OPENS DELAMAR WEST HARTFORD October 18, November 15 and December 20, 2026 DELAMAR WESTPORT October 25, November 22 and December 13, 2026 DELAMAR MYSTIC December 18, 2026 Additional performances through 2027 will be announced.
Visit parlorofimpossibilities.com for show information and tickets.
