HOLLYWOOD, California, USA, June 4, 2026 — Katrina Kroetch took to the stage on the opening night of the 2026 Hollywood Fringe Festival Thursday, June 4, premiering her new one-woman show I Am Not a Spy. This Is a Magic Show. Based on the response of a packed house, she left them amazed and delighted.
Kroetch, who performs under the stage name Magical Katrina, wasted no time establishing her operative credentials. She entered from the wings executing an Aikido roll, popped to her feet, and launched into a series of sharp karate-style kicks. The wordless declaration that this would not be a conventional magic show was a physically surprising first impression, especially when delivered in an evening gown. The audience was hers from that moment.
Kroetch wasted no time answering the question her title raises. She is a spy, she declares. Then, almost before the words land, a flash of flame and a necklace appears at her fingertips. A powerful pop of visual magic that leaves the audience exactly where the show intends them: uncertain what to believe. After all, both spies and magicians can’t be trusted to speak the truth. And she has just delivered evidence that cuts both ways.
From there the mission expands. Kroetch has crafted an engaging storyline that provides a unifying arc from start to finish. Her funny and fresh approach goes beyond the traditional series of tricks typical of magic shows. Instead she draws her audience into a character-driven narrative where the magic becomes part of a greater whole. Moments of surprise and wonder are woven seamlessly into a comedic noir tale with its own mystery and plot twists.
The setting is “SpyCon” — an absurdly comical gathering of intelligence agents from around the globe. The crowd is immediately drafted into this convention of international spies. Kroetch recognizes and calls out several field operatives in the seats, and soon, some of these cast-on-the-fly secret agents find themselves onstage, becoming active participants in the story and the magic.
Among the operatives identified is a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to someone from a previous mission. What follows between them is a memorable moment of the show — intimate, visual, humorous and constructed so that the magic and the story become inseparable. It is the kind of moment that works equally as a magic trick and as a scene, and the audience felt both at once.
The show continues to build from there. Predictions made early return in unexpected ways. Nothing is quite as it first appeared. The finale is equal parts action, absurdist comedy, and something unexpectedly touching — Kroetch commits fully to the bit, and then delivers a closing moment that brings the entire story full circle. Walking out, the audience knew they had seen something with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Not a magic show, but a show that was a satisfying combination of storytelling and magic.
Kroetch had told Conjurly in a pre-opening interview that this premiere would be “the worst version” of the show — the raw stone before the final statue emerges. If this is the worst version, the Melbourne Magic Festival audiences who will see the work in July following the Hollywood Fringe run are in for something special.
I Am Not a Spy. This Is a Magic Show. has six performances remaining at the Madnani Theater through June 26. Tickets are $25 at hollywoodfringe.org. The remaining schedule is also listed on the Conjurly Events Calendar.
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