Magic, Mind Games in ‘Nothing Up My Sleeve’ at Round House Theatre

Bethesda’s Round House Theatre is betting big on enchantment with the world premiere of Nothing Up My Sleeve: Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans. The theatrical magic show is an intimate, inventive evening that proves you don’t need smoke and mirrors to keep audiences spellbound.

Co-written and directed by Aaron Posner and starring co-writer and illusionist Dendy, the one-man show reunites the duo behind Round House’s celebrated 2022 staging of The Tempest. (You may remember Dendy’s mesmerizing, magic-laced Ariel mischief with a wink and a wand.) Here, the tricks are trickier and the tone more tender.

This is not an evening of grand illusion and razzmatazz. Instead, Nothing Up My Sleeve thrives on sleight of hand and conversational candor. Dendy greets the audience less like a Vegas headliner and more like the clever kid next door: curious, confiding, casually confounding. That accessibility is precisely what makes the impossible feel intimate.

The show toggles between autobiography and abracadabra, tracing the history of magic while charting Dendy’s own path into the craft. Cards cascade. Objects vanish. Assumptions evaporate. But the real reveal is relational: an exploration of trust, perception, and the delicious delight of being duped… willingly.

Design-wise, the creative team keeps things crisp and clever with costumes, scenes, and sound that subtly underscore the suspense. It’s a nimble, no-frills framework that lets the focus fall squarely on the man and his magic.

Expect abundant audience participation, and expect to love it so much — and wonder just how he did that — you’ll need tickets for a second performance (and maybe a third)!

Nothing Up My Sleeve is part of Round House Theatre’s Bonnie Hammerschlag National Capital New Play Festival. The performance runs about 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission and is on stage through March 15, 2026.