It’s not your average book reading or author appearance.

On Thursday (February 26) at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts’ Beyond Words series, writer Steven Galloway (who also penned The Cellist of Sarajevo) will read sections from his new novel, The Confabulist, about the life and death of magician Harry Houdini.

Appearing with him is master illusionist David Gifford, performing tricks that illustrate the story’s themes, from reality versus imagination to the way our eyes can fool our minds. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.