PORT TOWNSEND — Phina Pipia will present “Ha Ha Da Vinci” with 8 p.m. shows Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays through July 29.
The one-woman show will be at the Chameleon Theater, 800 W. Park Ave. in Port Townsend.
Tickets are $30 per person at https://hahadavinci.brownpapertickets.com.
The daughter of a professional magician, Pipia grew up in a house in Port Townsend where the laws of physics were defied on a daily basis.
“I sometimes joke that I have a permanent suspension of disbelief,” Pipia said. “As a toddler, I never learned that objects tossed up into the air would come down, or that a coin closed in my hand would be there when I opened it again … illusion was a part of life, and as a result, I still believe that just about anything is possible.”
When she learned that magician Luca Pacioli authored the first book on sleight of hand magic during the Renaissance, and that the book was illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci, she was hooked.
“I was lit up with an electric sense of curiosity, driven to find out everything I could about what these two artists made together, what kind of conversations they had, how they came up with ideas,” Pipia said. “The more I learned, the more this show seemed to roll out at my feet like a magic carpet. I simply stepped aboard and went for a ride.”
Pipia developed the show during a 2020 residence at the Centrum Foundation for the Arts at Fort Worden and has toured the United States and Canada performing it.
The story features the adventure of a young grad student who has been transported back to Renaissance times by a time machine created by Leonardo da Vinci and his collaborator, magician and mathematician Luca Pacioli.
In the show, she must decode their notes and solve a 15th Century mystery in order to return to the present.
Pipia has worked as a professional dancer in New York City, performed as one half of the double sousaphone duo The Pipia Sisters, toured with the magic and mentalism show The Psychic Dynasty and worked as the bassist and vocalist with several West Coast bands, including Kozmopolis and the Unexpected Brass Band.
Pipia released a solo album, “Outside of the Movies,” in 2020 and has another album, “Normal Times,” scheduled for release in December.
