[NoHo Arts District, CA] – El Mago Loco, starring Linzy Beltran and directed by Natasha Mercado, makes its debut at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2025.
About El Mago Loco
Making its 2025 debut as a Hollywood Fringe Scholarship Winner, El Mago Loco is a magician who only does what he knows: Latino magic tricks! But what happens when you show up (white, black, Asian-American, Brazilian?) and the audience isn’t 100% Latino? What follows is only una noche to prove his worth (magically, of course) and the discovery that true happiness in mediocrity is better than someone else’s (you!) version of success. Oh, and yeah, he’s going to do that trick where he cuts someone in half (could be you?).
About the El Mago Loco Team
LINZY BELTRAN – Clown
Linzy Beltran is a first-generation clown and writer from Houston, Texas. After surviving a Pentecostal upbringing, she found the holy spirit – through improv! During the pandemic, she turned that burning idea into a script, becoming one of 10 writers selected for the Disney-NHMC Screenwriter Fellowship. Linzy relocated to LA where she made her Hollywood Fringe debut as the lead in the play, El Paso (2022) and joined the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Character team in 2024.
NATASHA MERCADO – Director
Natasha Mercado is a director, performer, and visionary of the “Soft Clown”—a performance style she pioneered that combines unapologetic vulnerability, absurdism, and emotional depth. Her innovative approach has made her a sought-after teacher, with sold-out workshops across the country. In 2024, The Comedy Bureau named her work one of the “Best Things in Comedy,” and Cirque du Soleil’s David Shiner praised her as “fearless and completely out of [her] mind.”
As a director, Natasha has helmed critically acclaimed Fringe productions including Thank You So Much For Coming, Medicine Woman, and The Great Shamé. These works have garnered multiple award nominations and widespread recognition across the Edinburgh and North American Fringe circuits. In 2025, she is directing three new original works debuting at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, continuing her commitment to developing emotionally transformative, genre-defying performances in collaboration with rising artists.
Her solo shows, Tree and #1 Son, have toured internationally and received critical acclaim, with Tree being named one of Stage Raw’s Top 10 Shows in Los Angeles. Natasha’s directorial work centers creative impulse within heightened, often surreal worlds, creating transformative experiences that engage audiences both intellectually and emotionally.
In addition to her performing and directing career, Natasha works with The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, mentoring youth in under-resourced communities to develop original work that reflects their personal stories. She draws inspiration from immersive theatre, physical comedy, and the transformative power of intentionally shifting the energy in a room.
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