By Jackie Demaline
Enquirer staff writer

Abracadabra!, Playhouse in the Park's annual fund-raiser, is always a good time, but this year's edition, with performances today at 2 and 7 p.m., is something special.

Instead of a potpourri of acts, which can result in variations on a rope trick theme, this year showcases two high caliber acts that would be on the "must" list if you were visiting Las Vegas, Magic Capital of America.

Terrific comic/magician Mac King, who has emceed the show in the past, is given his due with the entire first act.

King gets a lot of mileage out being a Kentucky native, and a lot of his very funny patter will hopefully go over the heads of his youngest audience members.

He does do the rope trick (cut in the middle, cut on the ends, back together, knots come off) with delightful variations. He has fun with audience members, fun with card tricks and fun with goldfish - all to the delight of a young assistant who will probably be dragging his parents to a magic shop before the week is out.

And when he accidentally burns up a $100 bill, the routine he builds around an old gag is a wonder to behold. Somehow his shoe gets in on the act, and you won't believe the stuff that comes out of it, including a telephone receiver.

After intermission, the Pendragons specialize in grand illusions in grand theatrical style.

Against a backdrop of full moon and star-filled sky, they bring edge and a personal signature to a lot of jaw-dropping "how'd they do that?" disappearing and reappearing acts.

Jonathan Pendragon shows you the standard empty box - then he sets it on fire. That's how Charlotte Pendragon makes her entrance. Later, she's sawed in half in a clear box.

Jonathan Pendragon fearlessly employs the classics, from composer Gounod to long-nosed hero Cyrano de Bergerac. Talk about bold.

The show closes with the world's fastest execution of the "Metamorphosis" illusion, an elegant and ovation-inducing trick that has the Pendragons switching places in a locked trunk in 2.5 seconds - which gives her time to change her costume. Viva Abracadabra!

Tickets: 421-3888.

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E-mail jdemaline@enquirer.com