Movie of the Day — January 25
Derek DelGaudio — In & Of Itself — Hulu/2021
Derek DelGaudio — In & Of Itself — Hulu/2021
25.January.2021
Derek DelGaudio
In & Of Itself
Hulu/2021
On some days, when you’re scrolling around trying to find something to watch, a particular show or movie will grab hold of you. There can often be no rhyme or reason, at least that’s true for me. You don’t do any research; you just hit play. It’s surreal when it happens, but when it does, and it’s worth the time investment, Boy Howdy!
One Friday night in 2016, Phoebe Waller-Bridges Fleabag called out to me. I watched that first series in one night and banged out my thoughts on Fleabag immediately after.
Two years later, after hearing some chatter about Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette, I did the same thing. Watched it and immediately after, I banged out a note about that too.
Both of those shows left me gobsmacked and so blown away that I wanted to yell about it.
The same thing happened last Friday when I watched Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself on Hulu. I realized I was watching something truly unique. And like the other two, this also had something to say.
As it was with Fleabag and Nanette, nothing is being re-invented with Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself. It’s just told very well and with a particular point of view. Furthermore, aside from a theater commonality (Fleabag debuted at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a one-woman), the three share nothing in common contextually.
In & Of Itself is part monologue, part narrative, part performance, part theater, part drama, part confession, part comedy, part illusion…and all brilliant. DelGaudio’s chosen method of illusion is a deck of cards.
He doesn’t perform tricks — “Tricks are something a whore does Michael.” — G.O.B. Bluth, Arrested Development. DelGaudio performs illusions.
If the core tenant of magic is deception, then DelGaudio has raised the bar.
In an interview in The New York Times from 2017, DelGaudio said:
“I want to do for magic what Duchamp did for art — break it”
To these eyes, I would say Derek DelGaudio has broken magic. At the very least, it has been radically re-imagined.
Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself will, if you approach it with an open mind, blow you away. His almost lackadaisical approach to storytelling only heightens the tension, your emotional connection, and ultimately, the “wow” factor.
Good theater takes you away from your life and transports you into another world. DelGaudio does something similar but turns it around. Using himself as the centerpiece, he shows us who we are, who we want to be, and how we want to be seen.
The theater's intimacy where In & Of Itself was recorded means you may recognize some familiar faces in the crowd, including one of history's most iconic business titans.
And much like I did with both Fleabag and Nanette, I am not going to say too much about In & Of Itself. I’m only going to say that this is one of the best things I have seen in a very, very long time.
Trust me; you should watch it.