Palace of the Occult presented by Eclectic Full Contact Theatre at Prop Theatre

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...It's 1933, and a smarmy, beguiling, unaccountably self-effacing Hanussen welcomes us to the grand opening of his occult palace, a museum cum sideshow where he, curiously, tells his life story in protracted yet sketchy detail (he drops in a few magic tricks that, while not particularly difficult to figure out, add much-needed intrigue). Tobin's an engaging, mannered performer with a gift for gracious audience interaction. But he's well into act two before he finds the historical import of Hanussen's story-making most of act one feel comparatively empty."

Windy City Times - Highly Recommended

"...For this Eclectic Theatre production, under David Belew's unhurried direction, Tobin inhabits the persona of the seductively charming Hanussen with an oily confidence unimpaired by sparse attendance on a snowy first night. Even when the intimacy of the rented quarters at Prop Thtr threaten to reveal the secret behind the tricks, the fascinating true story related by the trickster is enough to keep us spellbound."

NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...I can happily report that this play is nothing like what I expected. A one-man show about a member of the Nazi party who aspires to become the Third Reich’s Minister of the Occult elicits imagined plotlines ranging from depressing to morbid. Instead, Neil Tobin’s “Palace of the Occult” is a fascinating examination of real-life Austrian/Czech Jewish performer Erik Jan Hanussen, an early advisor to Adolf Hitler."