☆☆☆

Sometimes performers come to the Fringe with their sharply honed, beautifully produced masterpiece show that fully encapsulates the extent of their creative abilities. Other times, they’re just here for the party and a laugh, and invite the occasional audience to join in. With his performance of Not Playing with a Full Deck, Chris Cross feels squarely in that second category. And for what it is, it’s a good performance. Cross is in his element onstage, with jokes and magic with a blend of varying quality that feels perfectly balanced by years of experience in keeping people entertained.

Flyers for the show warn that it’s “not for the easily offended”, which may sound worrying at first, but Cross’s bark proves worse than his bite. His crowd work may feel more like a comedian’s than a magician’s, but his prodding remains gentle enough for the audience to still like him. If he does make the occasional marginally offensive joke, it feels almost like a tick box exercise; like the weird uncle at Christmas dinner who sticks his finger in the pudding not because he wants to taste it but just because he likes the idea of fulfilling the archetype of the family’s weird uncle. Perhaps this is a sign that the audience of the reviewed show was indeed the “not easily offended” that the flyer requested.

Cross has demonstrably significant experience as a magician and in Not Playing with a Full Deck it definitely shows. Card trick fans may even just appreciate the fancy shuffles and card choreography that he employs during the requisite card trick sequence of the show. The card tricks themselves are a highlight as well. Every magician who has ever performed a card trick has, at some point, claimed that the trick they perform is the Best Card Trick Ever. Cross is no different, and he puts forward a strong contender for that title. At the reviewed show Cross performed several tricks with a card deck he borrowed from a member of the audience, which provided a lovely little moment of unplanned audience participation. Cross’s stunt work is equally perfectly performed, timed down to the second for maximum effect.

As evidenced by the highlight reel that Cross plays before the show, and indeed by the archives of this publication, Cross is a highly skilled magician perfectly capable of performing an excellent five star show. He may not have chosen that route this year, but his fun mess-around show is still well worth the ticket price and hour of the audience’s time. If at times it feels like he is conducting a group interview for post-performance drinking buddies, who can blame him? The world is burning and we could all use a laugh, a trick, and a drink.

More information on Not Playing With A Full Deck and its performance dates can be found here.

☆☆☆☆☆

For those of us who haven’t heard of or seen him before, it is too easy to underestimate Chris Cross.  From the wacky name and monogrammed belt buckle, the aggressively arranged alliteration of his 2021 show title A Pandemonium of Parlour Magic in a Pandemic, to the line in his show description advising “NOT for the easily offended”, it’s easy to assume that he must be overcompensating for something.  Fortunately for his audience this is absolutely not the case.  Cross brings the magic to back up the swagger of his over the top character in a funny and interesting performance. 

Perhaps more impressive than any of the magic is how skillfully Cross manages to playfully poke fun at the audience without coming across as a bully.  It’s a tough thing to balance, if the many performers who are unable to do so are any indication, and Cross makes it look easy.  Of course in magic shows the audience is generally called upon to take a more active role, and Cross’s participants on the evening of this review were well chosen.  A cadre of Canadian students in particular rose to the occasion to perfectly match Cross’s energy on stage and enhance the show with their participation. 

Magicians often claim that they’ll show the audience tricks that they’ve never seen before, but his claim typically leaves those who have seen many magic shows feeling disappointed.  Cross, on the other hand, genuinely follows through with a series of tricks that this reviewer at least hasn’t seen before (and we at World Magic Review have seen a fair share of tricks).  This part of the show that is a bit of a history lesson is exceptionally fun to watch.  Cross’s enthusiasm for these weird old tricks that have long since fallen out of fashion breathes new life into the old props.  His style seamlessly blends the more standard card and escapist material with the tour of historic props, in a one man demonstration of the range and development of magical performance. 

Cross’s Pandemonium of Magic is a necessary stop at this year’s Fringe for anyone who has ever considered themselves to be a fan of magic, even if for no other reason than the historical interest of the old-fashioned props that he has brought back to the stage.  That being said there are plenty of other reasons to see his show, between his comedy, sleight of hand skills, and perfectly choreographed escapology.  It’s as difficult to pigeonhole his act as it is to keep him in a straitjacket, and his show is all the better for it. 

More information on Cross and his performance dates can be found here.