I held off watching this for a long time because I saw it performed live in New York and it was truly one of the great theatrical experiences of my life. I didn’t think any filmed version of the show could possibly capture what happened in the room, which was beautiful and funny and even a little profound — dare I say, magical.

And, sure, there are things in a performance like this that can only be witnessed live. Sleight of hand is always going to be more impressive when you’re sitting eight feet from the guy doing it instead of a couple feet from a screen showing a recording that involves editing.

But the filmed version of In & Of Itself has a few tricks up its sleeve. For one thing, a lot of the movie involves audience participation, and when you see the show live, there’s always that thought in the back of your mind that Derek DelGaudio is using audience plants to accomplish some of the more mind-boggling moments. For these moments in the film, however, Frank Oz cuts between multiple performances, so you see DelGaudio doing this same moment over and over with different people, each time similarly but different, tailored to each person.

Now I suppose, every single one of these audience could be different confederates, each giving an incredibly authentic and deceptive performance. But it doesn’t feel that way. And the show’s big climax — which was incredible in the room —  might be more powerful on film, because Oz has cameras positioned all around the theater, and you get to watch the audience react to what DelGaudio is doing. It’s really quite moving.

(And if you’ve seen the show and you are wondering: When I went, I picked the only card I felt I could -- “I Am a Critic.” And yes, my wife and I absolutely went to the corner, and we saw the brick. We even picked it up and took pictures with it. But we didn’t take it. We put it back, hoping others would find it it too.)