While the stories are deeply personal to DelGaudio, reviewers from Variety note that the performance's true feat is how it shifts the focus back onto the audience, creating a collective feeling of being truly seen. 'In & Of Itself' Is A Study Of Identity And Magic - NPR
Upon entering the theater, every audience member was required to choose a card from a wall of hundreds of options, each beginning with "I AM," such as "I AM a teacher," "I AM a skeptic," or "I AM a dreamer". Derek DelGaudio's In & Of Itself (2020)
DelGaudio weaves together vulnerable personal anecdotes—including stories of his upbringing and his time as a professional cardshark—with illusions that serve to illustrate the "super-real". A Collective Epiphany While the stories are deeply personal to DelGaudio,
