Baker Artist Portfolios

The Encounter is the two-person team of magicians Brian Kehoe and Annie Montone.  We explore stage magic (viewed by many as a "low" art) for its great and inherent storytelling potential.  We seek to create a hybrid of theater and magic that we call "narrative magic."  Narrative magic is a potent blend of traditional magic effects and playwriting, with an aim to create experiences that are part magic show, part theatrical performance.   We find that magic does something for an audience that no other performance discipline can; it allows them to enter a space where literally anything is possible.  We want to use our magic to create that space for our audiences, and then tell stories inside of it.  We find that, when successful, we can achieve an engagement with others that is unique, intense, and emotional, because in this way, stories become real.  

Practicing in a new genre has necessitated that we become inventors to achieve want we want to achieve for our plot-driven magic.  We've had to study and learn from many disciplines to design, create, test, and build our own props and devices.    Using our limited resources and our dining room tables, we've become experts in how to take apart magic props and put them back together in a completely new way.  We've built boxes, envelopes, toys, and furniture (to name just a few) to be able to do what they should never be able to do, on stage, in precise choreography, night after night (and travel, as well!).   We've applied stage magic principles like sleight of hand to be able to operate and cue our own tech.  In order to present the impossible, we've had to build the impossible.

We have been working together since 2014 and formed The Encounter in 2015.  Since then, we have performed our narrative magic in multiple venues including  The Carroll Mansion (Planchette), The 14 Karat Cabaret at Maryland Art Place (Hoax), Nights on the Fringe for Charm City Fringe (Twinspeak), the Madonnari Arts Festival, and the Cabaret at Germano's (Jinx), just to name a few.  In addition, we toured to the Rochester Fringe Festival in 2016 (Planchette) and 2019 (Town X) and the Jersey Fringe Festival in 2019 (Town X).  We were privileged to bring our narrative magic to Fells Point Corner Theatre, where it was featured in Woman in Black (2017), the Baltimore School for the Arts, featured in Pippin (2019), and Chesapeake Theater Company, featured in A Midsummer Night's Dream (2023)  

In 2017, we co-founded the Baltimore Academy of Magic (now School of Magic Arts), a school for aspiring magicians.  BAM was the first of its kind, opening in the fall of 2017.  As a result of the first presidency of Donald Trump, being queer, neurodivergent creators and teachers, we felt we needed to safeguard a space where anyone could access the magic that we had found.  We feel that magic is strongest when it includes all gender identities, races, ethnicities, orientations, physical or mental abilities, and perspectives.  We know that there is no one person that typifies "a magician."

In 2020, when the world fell apart because of COVID-19, our school had to go virtual.  Surprisingly, we found the medium excellent for teaching magic, and it allowed us to scale.  SOMA students now come from almost every state (and even internationally).  We've had students that have stayed with us for the full three years and beyond, graduated, and are now performing magicians themselves.  We consider the school our largest and most important legacy, and as difficult as it has been, we have dedicated ourselves to keeping it alive and thriving through these difficult times. 

Since 2021, we have also had a robust outreach program headquartered in Baltimore City.  We have been privileged to partner with and bring magic programming to many area organizations, including Creative Alliance, the St. Paul Schools, Hampstead Hill Elementary School, William Paca Elementary School, Roland Park Country School, John Ruhrah Elementary/Middle School, Keswick Senior Center, Port Discovery, the Baltimore Concert Opera, Chesapeake Arts Center, and many more.

“...one part narrative theatre, one part magic show, though the lines between those aspects are blurred so well that the engaged audience actively marveled…” - Rebecca Rafferty, City Newspaper

“I didn’t know what to expect. Actually, that’s not true. I did have expectations, based on what little I found out in advance. But those expectations would be obliterated in an hour.” - Daniel Stuelpnagel, What Weekly

“It is not precisely a magic show, though it features a great deal of sleight of hand and equal amounts of audience involvement…[but it] is an intensely focused experience.” - Cybele Pomeroy, Broadway World

“I…really appreciated that creating an inclusive and safer space that welcomes diversity and uniqueness is a priority. It’s something very important to me and my family. I also really like the way your program is structured and the emphasis on building self-confidence.” - Kandice D. SOMA Parent

“It was phenomenal and unique across the online theater-learning landscape. I came away so inspired. I deeply admire the work you do and I appreciate you sharing it. I'd love to keep learning from you.”  - Eric T. SOMA Learner

“I met one of your students recently.  He was turning 11 and his father reached out to me to perform at his birthday. After the show he asked if I would watch him perform some of the new tricks he’s been learning and I was blown away by the caliber of material he was performing just as a level one student. I can tell you’ve helped him really develop a passion for the art and I’m excited to see what he does and where he goes. Thank you for everything you do.” - Zachary Gartrell, Magician