Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic

Arthur has been cited for numerous animal-​welfare violations, including for having forced two tigers and a lion to undergo painful declawing procedures – which involve amputating part of each toe – in violation of long-​standing USDA policy. He was also cited for confining a snow leopard and a bobcat to unsafe enclosures, failing to use adequate barriers to protect animals and the public, failing to provide cats with sufficient space to «make normal postural and social adjustments,» and denying them the opportunity to exercise. He has been officially sited on multiple occasions — so many that Caesars/Harrah’s dumped his act!
According to a trainer who provides tigers for Hollywood productions, conditioning tigers like those trained by Arthur to be submissive is possible only through VIOLENCE.
Don’t go see this show. Don’t support animal cruelty. He can do his magic like everyone else, with beautiful women. He should immediately retire these cats to a sanctuary where they can live their lives in some facsimile of nature.

This show is just okay. Aside from the animal issues that have been mentioned below (by people who haven’t even seen the show), the animal parts of the act are neat and it is awe inspiring being so close to these amazing animals. The main issue with the show is personality. Dirk Aurthur seems to be a decent guy and to be a decent magician. However, he just doesn’t seem to connect with the audience. In short, your kids will love this show, adults will find it just ehhh.

My four year old grand daughter was amazed. Me? not so much. The ‘magic’ was so very obvious. I mean you could see as he pushed buttons. LOL. The animals were beautiful but you could see that they too were enticed to push buttons. I assume there was food on some of the levers. It was an OK show but definately more fun if you can go with a little one.

Awesome show where you can see beautiful cats — tigers, white tigers, panther, leopard, bobcat and even rare snow leopard — along with VERY impressive magic tricks (where that cats appear and disappear, where people, cars appear and disappear — and even helicopter!)
Life fire on stage — not many magicians use fire in the tricks!
Awesome dancing routine — especially one with scarves, girls very talented.
One of best show on the Strip!
Highly recommended for any age, totally mind-​blowing and awesome!

Animal Defenders International has Condemned this act for the treatment of the animals while not on the stage. They are confined to cages on his property. No animal should be treated this way. After seeing the video on youtube, there is no way I would give one cent to this show. I can’t believe he is still in business.

Dirk is very nice and upbeat despite the lack of audience at the Saturday 4 o’clock showing. He involved the audience and explained the animals that were in the show. The girl dancers were good and were always smiling unless it was a sexy pose. Some of their moves and the songs made it seem not family friendly, but then he’d want kid volunteers so… other than that the animals were great. As great as animals can be. They were mostly eating to do the tricks. The magic to me was amazing, especially the last one.

I had seen Dirk years ago at Silverton and we went yesterday afternoon and really enjoyed the show. It is a great show if you have children and the variety of big cats is impressive. His love of these animals is very apparent. The showroom is the original Elvis theater and there was no problem sitting up very close.

Nothing spectacular. Seating was not very comfortable. The illusions were good but nothing jaw dropping. Dancers were out of sync. The animals were interesting but not much stage time. I don’t regret going, but would not go again.

The show was nice and I enjoyed it.
Arthur and the big team behind the scenes work hard to provide an awesome experience. This is much better than the blue men group although I like them too.
The magic is entertaining and he interacts with the audience. I like the magicians «karma» and when the show ended I was left with a positive feeling and I am happy I saw his show.
On a side note:
I am definitely going to look into the validity and relevance of the information from the YouTube video which, supposedly shows the living conditions of this beautiful felines.

I really enjoyed this show although Dirk performed one of the worst saw the woman in the box tricks in history. Yes there was obviously a fake dead looking hand at the top and a fake foot at the bottom of the box. You could still see the hand in the box when the girl got out and pulled the hand back in. Even my 7 year-​old said that is not a real hand. Two other acts performed, a female acrobat swinging on scarves aand a man spinning a metal box– they both were very entertaining and did a great job.
But, the random appearance of the tigers throughout the show was the show stopper. I would have given the show 4 stars if it were not for the animals. Otherwise, the tricks were pretty good and Dirk was very entertaing. He seemed to enjoy what he was doing unlike Nathan Burton at his show.
All-​in-​all entertaining. Many of the same tricks that you will see at any Vegas magic show, but this guy delivered minus the saw the woman in the box debacle. They tigers, panther, and snow leopard were amazing.

Dear David Siegel and Westgate Resorts
It was brought to my attention that an inhumane animal entertainment act, Dirk Arthur’s «Wild Illusions» show takes place at the Harrah’s Hotel and Casino. My heart actually breaks to see a casino, built on prestige, is allowing an act involving tigers, most who live in dire conditions, to take place at your casino representing the Westgate resort brand.
I’m unsure if you are aware, but today there are as few as 3200 tigers left in the wild. Only 7% of historic tiger habitat still contains tigers. At this rate, wild tigers will be extinct in just a few decades. To allow a show, where the performer breeds tigers and teaches them «tricks» and «stunts» in front of large audiences teaches people that is okay to publicly exploit and abuse wildlife that is on the verge of extinction. The shocking living conditions of these tigers recently exposed by Animal Defenders International is appalling.
Also, white tigers are a proven product of inbreeding, which many face serious health conditions and deformities as the process is completely unnatural. Look at the attack issues and scrutiny around Siegfried and Roy using tigers in their shows. Is that the example you want to set for people seeking entertainment and a family experience at your Westgate venue?
I would hope that money isn’t more important to you than our future and animal conservation. It is absolutely cruel to breed a naturally wild creature and expose it to entertainment — bright lights, loud music, screaming crowds, dangerous props, small living conditions/​storing conditions for wild animals. Are you the next SeaWorld? Entertainment is a critical element towards our livelihood, but not at the expense of animal cruelty.
My family and friends are experienced travellers and have been to Vegas many times. I can assure you, until the show is replaced by a more ethical alternative such as Cirque du Soleil, we will NOT be visiting your venue and discouraging others supporting the Westgate brand. I am a professional travel blogger with a large following who trust my advice on tourism. -
. I will discourage travel seekers to steer away from your brand until you take a stand and put an end to the tiger’s misery that is taking place due to your negligence to take a stand and pull the show.
Do the right thing — replace the show or ask Dirk Arthur to retire his tigers to an ethical sanctuary, where they live the rest of their lives in a peaceful environment as nature had intended them to.

If I could give him and minus 1 million, I would. Anyone who goes to his show is contributing to the abuse and torture of animals. Would you allow anyone to do the horrible things he does to your dog or cat!!!
Check out this link!!!

This show is located inside Westgate Las Vegas. The theater is a good size with any seats being a good seat. It was very entertaining and fun. It is recommended for ages 5+, it’s a great family show. He uses several cats such as Snow tiger, panther, lion, Bengal tiger etc about 6 big cats on the show. They are so majestic and beautiful. There were also duck, chicken and birds. There were also audience participations, card tricks and various smaller scale tricks. There were 4 beautiful dancers/​show girls. I would definitely go back to see it again.

As someone who has lived in Vegas for almost 30 years to go near the strip is a big NO NO, but this show was being held at the WestGate formerly Las Vegas Hilton on Paradise.
Right off the bat the show starts with four assistants dancing on stage and being a great distraction for the audience and the tricks were believable enough where it had you wondering how he did that!
The animals that Dirk Arthur uses in his show do appear to be taken care of well, and my grandson got to pet the chicken as well.
I would recommend this show to anyone looking for affordable Las Vegas entertainment for the whole family.

After hearing about this show am I the only one that thought of the Mark Wahlberg movie Boogie Nights? Imagine an adult magic show. Hmmmm. Well it is Vegas.
Anyways, the show was just ok. Has all the elements of a typical magic show. You got 4 sexy female dancers who also double as assistants throughout the show. Cheesy one liner jokes. And of course props galore including live animals like tigers, birds, etc.
Located inside the International Westgate Theater at Westgate Las Vegas, I would say this venue is just the right size for this show. The theater itself looks like to have a capacity of about 200. The stage is large enough for all his tricks and im telling you right now without giving away the show, he definitely uses every inch of the stage.
As for the 3 star rating, its mainly because of Dirk himself. I give him credit for doing his thing and he is definitely passionate about his animals especially his tigers. Its just that I don’t think he has the charisma and showmanship to really get my attention. Kind of like some people that show up for work but don’t really like what their doing. It pays the bills kind of reasoning. Also, they don’t let you take pictures of any kind and that’s why there’s hardly any pics on here.
In closing, I think young children will probably be the ones that will be most entertained by this. As for me I was not impressed to the point that I cant wait to see this show again. Of course I will take my young nieces and/​or nephews to this whenever it applies.
Unilocal 2015 Review #58
557 overall

Great show! Dirk is very quirky and entertaining. I loved the dancing hankies and all of his birds, but his big cats take the show to a whole different level. They are so beautiful and so are his assistants! This is a great family friendly show that still has the glitz and glam of a Vegas show.

I have seen a lot of magic and Illusionist and Dirk Arthur was amazing.
A great show for the whole family. Took a friend who also enjoyed it .
Will definitely see it again

I don’t know where this show went now that the Riviera is closed, but I hope it continues. It’s exactly the sort of cheesy, magic show that exemplifies everything I love about Vegas. But, don’t let that make you think that the magic wasn’t impressive. I personally had a better time here than a particular Cirque show that I went to a few nights prior. His last act in particular had my jaw on the floor. I also like how he incorporated the beautiful, beautiful cats into the show in a safe and respectful way. They weren’t there to do tricks but rather to just be part of the illusion. I understand why he had the video in the middle, to show that the cats weren’t abused and that he actually cared about. I hope that wasn’t just a show for the audience and he really did treat them well. Dirk Arthur himself has an interesting stage presence. He comes across a little as a overeager teen getting ready to show off his new trick, but, at the end of the day, they are pretty fun to watch. I hope, wherever he ends up, he and his cats continue their success.

This show is probably EXACTLY what you’d expect it to be, in all ways.
Dirk Arthur sounds so much like a stage/​porn name, and is exemplary of this «off-​the-​strip» style of show. He is (not necessarily intentionally) a parody of the art-​form, and as my wife put it, if you were looking to cast someone as a cheesy magician for a serial TV show, this guy would be perfect.
I loved the cats, but wish they had a bit more activity above being the subject of the illusion. Teach two of them to do minor tricks, like «make this meat-​ball disappear» (chomp!). I think working them a little more into the act would go a looong way. As is, they’re more of a set piece.
The show had a bit of identity crisis. The assistants were a bit evocative for a kids show (stripper pole dancing every time they’re on stage). I get the appeal to adults taking their kids, who likely don’t know better, but it was a bit odd, as I think kids are the primary audience of this show (big cats).
His magic tricks were a bit dated, and where we were seated at the front/​side of the stage, we could see through many of the «illusions» (false panels, mirrors, strings, etc.). As there are plenty of seats in the house, I’d suggest sitting more center-​stage so the «magic» isn’t tarnished.
His constant need for applause/​attention was also a bit distracting/​awkward/​disappointing. People are clapping, keep the momentum going, don’t stop and come to the front of the stage to bask in the glory after every single trick!
All of that said… the cats were great/​fun to see, the assistants had great energy and worked hard, and I was entertained (sometimes laughing at rather than with). This is a good show to bring your kids too, family friendly and all.

This was a cozy show that I think I was well performed with good variety. He used exotic animals and I specially liked the little video that showed him walking the animals around. I definitely recommend it as it was very different from typical grand shows I have been to.