'America's Got Talent' winner to perform in New Albany

Editors Note: This story has been corrected to include the correct dates of the meet-and-greet event and magic shows. Dustin Tavella will visit New Albany next Friday and Saturday. 

NEW ALBANY — A winner of ‘America’s Got Talent’ is performing in New Albany this week.

Magician Dustin Tavella will visit J&B Magic Shop & Theater, 610 E. Spring St., on Friday and Saturday, March 24 and 25. The performer was the champion of ‘America’s Got Talent’ in 2021.

Tavella will be in the New Albany shop from noon to 6 p.m. March 24 for a free meet-and-greet event, and on March 25, he will perform shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the shop’s theater. The 7 p.m. show has sold out but tickets are still available for the 9 p.m. show as of Tuesday afternoon.

Brent Braun, the owner of J&B Magic Shop, is also a consultant who works behind the scenes with magicians to perfect their acts. He worked with Tavella during his run on ‘America’s Got Talent.’

“So I was actually out at ‘America’s Got Talent’ working with another client, and I bumped into Dustin,” he said. “We had talked before but never really worked together. We sort of hit it off.”

Tavella’s website describes the performer winning the competition “for his magic performances alongside his ability to inspire audiences through storytelling.”

Braun said Tavella is “one of the most passionate people” he has met.

“I think it comes across in his magic,” Braun said. “It’s one of the things he does special that is good for ‘America’s Got Talent’ but is also good for America, and that is he’s able to inspire people and drive them to believe in something bigger than themselves. I believe that we as individuals can change the world. That’s what we talked about a lot.”

He said Tavella is focused on connecting with his audience.

“We were talking about writing the acts, and not once did the conversation come up and we said, how can we win ‘America’s Got Talent’ — that wasn’t the conversation,” he said. “The conversation was, how can we make one viewer watching care, how can we talk to one individual.”

Braun said on March 24, Tavella will be hanging out in the magic shop to perform and teach magic tricks for the family-friendly event.

“Anybody can come out to that and meet the guy from ‘America’s Got Talent,’ shake hands with him, talk to him, spend time with him and watch him do magic,” he said.

J&B has a small, 30-seat theater, which will provide an interactive, memorable experience for attendees for the March 25 magic shows, Braun said.

“It’s not only special for the people who get to see Dustin, but it’s also special for him because he gets to really be in the space talking to individuals and doing the show in a way he normally doesn’t get to do it,” he said.

Braun said Tavella’s show is “just going to be fun.”

“It’s just like a really fun, great magic show,” he said. “He has really a lot of positive energy. He’s sort of over the top and bigger than life but loves people more than anything.”