Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Salem's show is a very smart show and, albeit aimed at adults, perfectly suitable for older kids. He is a formidable intellectual, which does not mean he is not also full of stuff and nonsense. But a lot of en vogue illusionist entertainment of the Criss Angel-Las Vegas gestalt feels tacky and middlebrow."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...On the night I attended, he predicted all the key components of a farcical Chicago crime story dreamed up by the audience and successfully shared details of a host of people's past vacations. While it's a show that involves reading, writing, and thinking, the key ingredient is a healthy and subsequently satiated sense of wonder. Salem even keeps it topical, comparing volunteers' lying tells to those of Presidents Clinton and Bush."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...Salem is listed as the creator and performer in the program and there is no director listed, which is exactly the problem. The show is presented in a theatre and needs to be somewhat theatrical. The entire proceedings had an unpolished air about them. Salem often has his back to the audience and seemed like he had never been on a stage before, but according to his resume and credits he has been, many times."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The Apollo Theater Chicago has a new tenant. It is Marc Salem, the world’s foremost mentalist and purveyor of mind games. This is not a play, but is an evening of entertainment that you will want to partake of, and possibly participate in. It is called “Theater Art”, and this man, comes before an audience and with his mind, gets into our heads. Not knowing what to expect, we assumed that it would be an evening of typical “mind-reading”(as they refer to it on the circuit), but Mr. Salem is far from typical, in any way , shape or form."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...At the beginning of his 90-minute show at the Apollo Theater, mentalist Marc Salem informed patrons that he doesn't use any assistants or stooges in the audience or hidden cameras, and he doesn't do any pre-show background checks on spectators he will call on during the performance. He is, Salem claims, not a magician and there are no supernatural elements in his performance. I'm not so sure. Salem must be a magician and there has got to be some occult power. There seems to be no rational explanation for his astounding act."
The Fourth Walsh - Recommended
"...There isn't any smoke or mirrors or even a drum fanfare leading to any of the Ta-Da moments. It's just creator and performer Salem interacting with the audience. The stage looks like a customary study with a few props to be used during the show; sharpies, newspapers, books and strips of surgical tape. Salem starts the show by throwing a crumpled wad of paper to an audience member. After a few tosses, the paper is opened to reveal what someone just said. It's these seemingly careless happenstances that make his act eyebrow raising."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...I am of two minds over this mentalist act now ensconced at the Apollo. On the one hand, it’s technically amazing, a blast of psychic gee-whiz wonderment as Salem appears to effortlessly read audience members’ minds and non-verbally influence their behavior. But it’s also dramatically thin, a consequence of the one-note abrasiveness of Salem’s stage persona and the show’s paucity of structure, buildup and purpose."
