MAGIC WITH A FEMININE TWIST

By Heather Turk

Jen Kramer’s Las Vegas residency is a real delight

Photos courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino

This past June, Las Vegas’ only current headlining female magician, Jen Kramer, celebrated her 500th performance at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino — just one day before her 30th birthday.

A fixture at the property since 2018, the Yale theater graduate holds the honor of having the longest-running Las Vegas residency by a female magician in history. Her hit residency, “The Magic of Jen Kramer,” is easily one of the city’s most enjoyable family-friendly productions, showcasing Kramer’s impressive sleight-of-hand and mentalism skills as much as her charming (and contagious!) smile.

While some magicians can be a bit intimidating onstage, Kramer’s kind and patient personality quickly wins over even the most hesitant audience members and has them happily volunteering to assist her with her illusions. That’s important during the 90-minute show, as the majority of Kramer’s head-scratching tricks — from making a signed $100 bill appear inside of a tube of lipstick to becoming “taste buds” with someone in the crowd — rely heavily on audience participation. Shortly after “The Magic of Jen Kramer” begins, Kramer does a quick change into one of several gorgeous dresses she wears during the show.

Kramer does her best to interact with adults and kids equally during the show, too, so if she is creating a larger-than-life Facebook page for an adult onstage, she will oftentimes turn to children in the audience to help her fill that social media page with some funny facts. Kramer first became interested in magic when she was 10 years old, and it’s easy to tell that she’s passionate about sharing her love of the craft with kids around the same age.

Whether or not Kramer inspires a new generation to follow in her footsteps, audiences young and old are sure to love “The Magic of Jen Kramer.” The production runs Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. inside the Westgate Cabaret. Tickets start at only $19.99, plus taxes and fees. westgatelasvegas.com