ERIE, Pennsylvania, USA, November 1, 2026 — Bobby Borgia’s homecoming run of Lights. Camera. Magic. at Kellar’s: A Modern Magic & Comedy Club sold out both nights, October 23 and 24, and each performance ended with the audience on its feet.
The show, billed as Interactive Magic in Concert, scales close-up magic up for a full room. A live camera crew follows Borgia through the club, projecting his sleight of hand onto large LED screens so every seat sees it up close, and much of the magic happens in the hands of audience members.
For Borgia, who founded the Erie club, the shows meant performing for the toughest audience he knows: his hometown.
“Nothing hits quite like a hometown crowd—or tests your nerves in quite the same way!” Borgia told Conjurly. “Having a room packed with friends, family, and locals sitting back with that classic ‘Alright, show us what you’ve got’ look is the ultimate crucible.”
Mike Quirk, general manager of Kellar’s, said the show changed the room itself. “The entire floor became the stage. It had a totally different look and feel,” he told Conjurly. “Everyone in the room was part of the magic. I think Erie was surprised on multiple levels. The energy in the room made you forget about the outside world for just a little bit.”
Quirk credited the camera, lighting, and audiovisual crews and the Kellar’s staff for pulling the production together. “For me, it was amazing to see the level of skill from Bobby and the entire crew,” he said. “It was no surprise that each show ended with a standing ovation.”
Among the audience was Lou Baxter, the longtime Erie broadcaster who first saw Borgia perform when Borgia was a teenager.
“I was in absolute awe of his performance!” Baxter told Conjurly. “You got to see his amazing magic up close and personal from all angles. Every trick amazed me! Add to that incredible music, storytelling, and videos… it all combined for a fast-paced, high-energy show.”
Others shared their reactions on Facebook. Sally G. Ramirez of Erie called the show “fabulous,” and Anne Drozdowski of Erie wrote, “All I can say is WOWWWW!” Kathy Wizzard thanked Borgia “for a marvelous performance on Friday,” adding, “We talked about your skills as a magician for hours last night.”
Borgia founded Kellar’s in 2020 after three decades in Hollywood, naming the club for Erie-born Harry Kellar, the dean of American magicians. This year he won an Emmy Award as producer of the PBS documentary Kellar: The Greatest American Magician. Conjurly profiled Borgia and the show ahead of the run.
Borgia didn’t stay home long. He has since flown to the Carnival Cruise Line production studios in Florida to train a new cast for Flick: The Power of Motion Pictures, a show that uses illusions and magic to bring iconic movies back to life. The show was created and directed by Paul Roberts, the English director and choreographer who died in September 2025. Borgia is the technical illusion designer, magic consultant, and on-set trainer for the production, which Carnival Playlist Productions now runs on eight ships. Craig Dickens, a Southern California illusion builder whose props have appeared in five Broadway productions and who is interviewed in the Kellar documentary, built the illusions.
“Every time there’s a cast change, I have to fly down to the studios and train the new cast, and I really love it,” Borgia told Conjurly. “I did not think I would want to teach all these years, but every time I teach, I learn so much by teaching. It has been a freaking amazing journey.”
The travel never stops, but Erie is home base again, and the hometown crowd is glad to have him back.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the guy I first saw perform as a teenager, who left Erie, has performed around the world, only to return and make Erie home once more and share his incredible, amazing magical talent,” Baxter said.
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