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Fringe regular Tom Brace has been performing for Edinburgh audiences for a whole ten years. This year, in his new show The Tom Brace Magic Hour, all he wants to do is invite his audience over to play some games. They’re magical games, and the relationship is still very much magician-participant— Brace is always in control—but the atmosphere feels slightly more laid back. Brace presents the show like a television program, complete with a commercial break, for an exciting spin on his daily game night.

Brace explains early on that he is resorting to inviting his audience to his game night due to his family getting tired of him using his mentalist abilities to always win. What might not be the best experience in a family game night makes for an entertaining magic show. Brace excels at presenting his effects in theme, and The Magic Hour is no different, each routine feels perfectly in place with its game-style framing. Every prop and reveal feels game related. Of the many highlights, a standout piece is his version of Scrabble, which gets several audience members involved in a way that is random but allows for the most enthusiastic to nab their time in the spotlight, and contains a couple strong, increasingly complex reveals.

Brace uses audience participation in the typical magician fashion, and gets a good proportion of the audience involved. He is not out to embarrass anyone, and the audience gets to know this fairly quickly, so he gets plenty who are enthusiastic to be onstage with him. While the theme is game night, it’s a magical game night, so Brace takes any difficult or potentially embarrassing tasks for himself and ensures that his participants can join in in comfort.

It wouldn’t be a family game night without some measure of chaos, and at the reviewed show Brace’s audience participants don’t disappoint. Brace is excellent at navigating the chaos to allow unexpectedly funny moments to shine without letting rogue audience members derail the magic. Of particular note was the relationship he built with one especially enthusiastic young participant, who had an innate performer’s instinct and desire to entertain the audience he found himself in front of. Brace made sure to corral those instincts without discouraging him, and even gave this young audience member a trusted, important role later in the show. Brace’s ability to balance encouraging a young person’s creativity with ensuring that it did not disrupt his own show is admirable, and had all the makings of a positive core memory for the child in question.

The Tom Brace Magic Hour is part television show, part family game night, and all good fun. Brace celebrates his longevity at the Fringe with a party as much as a spectacle. The show is family friendly and Brace is great with kids, but as the audience left at the end, attendees of all ages and enthusiasm levels for magic could be heard exclaiming their wonder and delight with his performance. Brace has a demonstrably universal appeal, and his magic game night is one not to miss.