The Studio
A WORKING SPACE FOR MYSTERY
Time for Magic is the creative studio of World Champion Magician Helder Guimarães. A place where ideas are quietly developed before they meet an audience.
Books remain open here. Research happens daily. Cards are handled again and again until stories begin to appear. Most of the time, the studio exists only as a space to investigate and create.
But on some evenings, the doors open.
Some Recent Projects
Title
The Hope Theory
Year
2023/2024
In The Hope Theory, Helder Guimarães turned his own experience as a Portuguese immigrant arriving in America into a deeply personal theatrical work about identity, belonging, and the fragile architecture of hope. Rather than treating immigration as an abstract subject, the piece approached it through the lens that defines much of his work: the emotional life hidden beneath appearances, the tension between how one is seen and who one is becoming, and the invisible negotiations involved in starting again.
Presented at the Geffen Playhouse and directed by Frank Marshall, the production brought Helder’s signature language of intimacy and impossibility into profoundly autobiographical territory. Performed over a sold-out twelve-week run, with select performances presented entirely in Spanish, The Hope Theory revealed the scope of his artistry: a creator capable of weaving memory, illusion, and personal history into theatre that feels both intimate and expansive.
Title
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
Year
2022 /2023
In the early stages of NYSM3, before the project had even been greenlit, Helder contributed as a consultant during the film’s formative development. This kind of involvement belongs to a particularly meaningful phase in any creative process, when tone, logic, and internal rules are still being shaped. At that stage, his contribution would have centered not only on illusion itself, but on the deeper psychology of deception: how magicians think, how impossibility is framed, and how mystery can remain convincing on screen.
That collaboration sits naturally within the larger arc of Helder’s work. He is often invited into projects not merely to add magic, but to deepen the intelligence beneath it: the human behavior, dramatic structure, and emotional truth that allow impossible moments to feel real. In that sense, his involvement in NYSM3 reflects the same creative signature present across his performances and theatrical work: a commitment to mystery that is elegant, intelligent, and profoundly human.
Title
Back to Wonder
Year
2022/23
Back to Wonder was conceived as an intimate encounter with secrecy itself. Limited to just fifteen people at a time, the experience brought together storytelling, impossible phenomena, and a carefully curated atmosphere shaped by four central ideas: wonder, secrets, time, and trust. More than a show, it was an invitation into Helder’s private creative universe — a space where mystery was not presented as spectacle alone, but as something to be felt, protected, and shared.
Its hidden location became part of its mythology. Guests received directions only on the morning of the event, and the project lived entirely by word of mouth, with no ads or additional marketing. That commitment to discretion gave the work an almost whispered quality, and helped make it one of Helder’s most sought-after creations. Selling out for months and returning for a second run, Back to Wonder reaffirmed his gift for creating performances that feel less like productions and more like secrets passed from one person to another.
Title
The Present
Year
2020
The Present emerged from Helder’s memories of childhood isolation and transformed them into a work of remarkable intimacy, created at a time when the world itself had been forced into distance. Rather than resisting the limits of the virtual space, the piece used them beautifully, turning absence, anticipation, and connection into part of its emotional structure. It was a work about uncertainty, resilience, and the quiet revelations that can appear when life slows down.
Presented through a secure online platform for only twenty-five guests at a time, the experience began with each audience member receiving a sealed mystery package to open during the performance. As the first virtual production in the Geffen Playhouse’s Stayhouse series, The Present became an unexpected phenomenon: its run expanded repeatedly, ultimately reaching 248 performances, sending 6,200 mystery boxes into the world, and generating a waitlist of more than 12,000 people. It remains one of the clearest examples of Helder’s ability to create intimacy at any scale.
Title
Invisible Tango
Year
2019
In Invisible Tango, Helder offered a meditation on mystery in an age that increasingly demands explanation. The work explored what it means to live with uncertainty — not as a problem to solve, but as a condition to inhabit — and invited audiences into a space where wonder, fear, chaos, and beauty could coexist. Like much of his work, it used illusion not simply to astonish, but to ask deeper questions about perception, trust, and the human need for meaning.
Directed by Frank Marshall and featuring original music by Moby, Invisible Tango premiered at the Geffen Playhouse and marked a defining moment in Helder’s evolution as a theatrical creator. By combining close-up impossibility with philosophical reflection and emotional depth, the piece helped establish the artistic language that would continue to shape many of the projects that followed: intimate in scale, expansive in feeling, and grounded in the poetry of the unseen.
Title
Ocean’s 8
Year
2017 / 2018
For Ocean’s 8, Helder brought his understanding of deception into the world of film, contributing as a consultant to a major studio production. His role included working with Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett, helping them inhabit the logic, precision, and physical language of con artists with greater authenticity. What he brought to the project was not simply technique, but a deeper understanding of how attention is guided, trust is manipulated, and confidence is performed.
His involvement appears to have extended into the psychological and choreographic texture of the film itself, particularly in the areas of pickpocketing, misdirection, and the rhythms of the con. It was a natural extension of his broader practice: applying the intelligence beneath illusion to a cinematic setting where every detail matters. The behavior, timing, and emotional credibility that make deception believable.
What We Do
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Our headquarters is where Helder Guimarães develops new performances & shows. We treat it as laboratory, offering the opportunity to audiences to visit his working space and, in a way, be part of his creative process. We develop original projects where narrative, atmosphere, and wonder meet with precision. From live experiences to bespoke commissions, each production is shaped with care, attention to detail, and a distinctive artistic vision. The result is work that feels singular, immersive, and quietly unforgettable.
PRIVATE PERFORMANCES
We offer private performances created for those who value a personal approach and rare experiences. Whether presented within the studio or beyond it, each encounter is shaped around its setting and audience. We don’t simply offer performances, but moments of closeness, mystery, and presence. Each of our offer is an elegant experience designed and performed by Helder Guimarães himself to be felt as much as witnessed.
CREATIVE CONSULTING
For brands, producers, creatives, and directors seeking expertise in illusions, narrative engineering, sleight-of-hand, and the psychology of attention. Helder Guimarães has worked with Coca-Cola, Sony, and Mercedes-Benz, and has advised NBC, Disney, and Warner Bros. Drawing on years of knowledge in performance and illusion, we help bring sophistication, atmosphere, and credibility to projects where mystery and perception matter.
Helder Guimarães has spent his life exploring magic as a language of emotions, perception, and storytelling.
A World Champion of Magic, he has presented his work internationally through theatre shows, immersive productions, lectures, and collaborations across artistic disciplines.
Beyond live performance, his creative work has also extended into film and television, serving as a consultant on productions exploring illusion and narrative for companies such as Disney, NBC, and Warner Bros.
Time for Magic reflects his personal approach to this craft: a studio where ideas can exist slowly before being shared with an audience.
A Life Devoted to Mystery
Upcoming performances are released in limited numbers
Only 22 seats are available for each session
