I think it’s pretty clear by the number of posts I have written about going to musicals that I love going to see live shows. And while I haven’t written as much about being nerdy, I am a pretty nerdy person. I love brain teaser type things. I do the crossword (both the regular and mini New York Times crosswords) every day. And I also really love magic. So when there is something that combines all these things, I know I want to check it out! And that’s exactly what happened this past weekend. I went to check out the show “The Enigmatist” at the Geffen.
This show is a one-man show by David Kwong. I actually had seen another one of his shows over Zoom earlier this year. I really enjoyed that show a lot and was excited there was a chance to see one of his shows in person. And I got a Black Friday deal that made the tickets super affordable. I reached out to some of my friends who I thought would enjoy a puzzle show, and my friends Jane and Robert were able to come with me.
The show starts before the show with some pre-show puzzles to solve. I don’t want to say too much since there are still shows that people can attend, but the puzzles are all fun and show you different ways to solve puzzles that have one-word answers. We were able to solve all of them before the show started, and we went inside to sit down a few minutes before everything was going to start. With the Black Friday deal I had, we were able to be really close to the stage area. But the entire room was pretty small so everyone had great seats. And since it was an interactive show, everyone had an equal opportunity to participate.
I really want to share so much that happened because it was an incredible show, but I also don’t want to give away much to spoil it. But I will share one funny story that happened. During the show, there are 4 main puzzles that we work on solving and then we use those to solve the big puzzle at the end. For the first puzzle, I actually had no clue what the answer was and had to hear what the person who solved it thought. But as soon as the second puzzle came up, I almost knew immediately what the answer was.
I don’t know how I knew it or how I saw it, but it just clicked. I asked Robert something because I wanted to be sure, but I knew I had the answer. We were told to stand up if we knew the answer and he would call on us to answer it. I don’t know if I stood up too quickly or if he was waiting to see if anyone else might stand, but I felt like I was standing up waiting for him to call on me for several minutes. And during that time, nobody else was standing. I was so worried I was completely wrong and that I was about to embarrass myself. I had no idea why nobody else saw the answer when it seemed so clear to me. But finally I was called on to give my answer and I was right! But I was really panicking a bit that I was completely off-base and that everyone would laugh at me.
Besides getting an answer to a main puzzle right, another highlight for me at the show was watching him construct a crossword puzzle live in front of us. I think creating crosswords is a really cool skill and seeing it happen was magical! I’m aware of how nerdy this all sounds, but this was exactly my type of nerdiness and it really made this show incredible! And Jane and Robert also had a great time and we were talking about how impressed we were after the show was done.
And there was a chance to take a photo with David Kwong after the show was done, which of course we had to do.
We all told him how much we enjoyed the show and I was able to tell him how much I enjoyed the show over Zoom as well. I love getting the chance to tell people how much I love their work, and honestly this was one of the coolest shows I’ve been to!
I really hope he does another show in the future so I can go to another one. I loved how this combined puzzles, magic, and storytelling and made an amazing show. And if you have a chance to see the show before it closes, do it! It’s so much fun and you will leave shocked about how it all comes together in the end!
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