Harrison Greenbaum's What Just Happened? ended its off-Broadway run at Aslyum NYC this April. That doesn’t mean, however, that the show is over. Greenbaum will be taking What Just Happened? on tour across the country, bringing his off-Broadway performance to places in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. And thanks to the setup for the 90-minute show, its look and feel will travel well.
First three photos by Mark Ashe; Stage photo by Rudy Plaza
“We’ve been able to do these awesome virtual sets,” Greenbaum told THE EYE. “It’s all projected on this giant screen, so it’s actually pretty easy to travel with.” The technology is so impressive that Greenbaum joked audiences sometimes react more to set changes than his act.
“When the first one happens, sometimes the audience gasps, which is always funny to me as a magician: I’m doing miracles, right? That’s just a video wall, right? I’m like, ‘Hey! There’s magic happening!’” Greenbaum performed What Just Happened? at Asylum NYC for 10 months, his longest run of performing a one-person show, though before that he starred in the Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show, Mad Apple, for almost two years. Greenbaum’s performances in both, however, lean heavily into comedy, which reflects his personality.
“One of the ways I try to distinguish What Just Happened? from other comedy magic shows is that often, when people see a comedy magic show, they’re seeing a magician doing comedy. And my show is very much a comedian doing magic,” he explained.