☆☆☆☆

Edinburghers may know Ash Pryce by reputation even if they haven’t seen him personally, as a popular horror performer and magician. In Occult he brings these skills to bear nominally to initiate the audience into his demonic cult, but it’s really more than that. Fans of scary magic may seem to be the target audience, but there’s a lot to enjoy even for those who aren’t usually into that kind of thing. It’s an interesting and well constructed magic show of wide appeal.

The initiation process takes several steps, each with a matching magic effect. The magic is thoughtfully placed and well matched to the steps as Pryce describes them. Fans of magic, and those who have attended a lot of scary magic shows in particular, will probably recognize the structures of most if not all of the effects used. They’re the popular props of this sub-genre and the ones the audience expects to see in this kind of show. An effect that gets the entire audience involved uses tarot cards for mind reading, and spirit boards are successfully demonstrated to prove communication with the Other Side.

The familiarity of the tricks feels like the point; it’s a plus for this particular show. These trappings are a comfort zone for fans of Pryce’s work and sub-genre, which here he uses to help the audience feel safe, rather than frightened—the delicious cheese that hides the real theme. As part of the pleasure of this show is in the discovery of that theme, it would be a shame to reveal it here. The experience of the cheese should be preserved for future audiences. It’s certainly worth experiencing.

At his intimate Fringe venue Pryce is able to get most if not all of the audience involved over the course of the show. Pryce may seem an intimidating figure as he strides around the stage summoning a demon, but he is kind to his participants and helps them feel comfortable when they join in the act. If some of the participants at the reviewed show were slightly unsure of what to do, this is easily put down to variability of being human, and anyway Pryce quickly adjusted.

At the reviewed show of Occult Pryce has a moment out of his stage character at the end, revealing that this is in fact a work in progress and telling the audience a bit about how the show came about. It’s even more impressive for that knowledge. While those who aren’t close friends of Pryce may not have gotten the full backstory from watching the show, the theme and even the more immediate inspiration come through remarkably well. If this is just the WIP the final result should really be something special—no pressure. Fringe audiences are lucky to get this sneak peek.