Edinburgh Fringe

CHRIS COOK: TRUTH OR DARE

☆☆☆☆☆

Chris Cook is an unexpected gem of Edinburgh Fringe magicians, and an absolute master of his stage. His show this year, Truth or Dare, is a testament to the captivating nature of skillful and surprising magic.

In accordance with its name, Truth or Dare is a game with the audience. In such a game, of course, the magician will always be winning. But Cook is a consummate professional and charmer of his spectators. Even if he was always going to fool us, we’re ecstatic for it to happen. The show is completely interactive, involving someone in every trick that is done. You would think this runs the risk of relying on a terrible participant, but Cook has no such troubles. His interactions with the crowd is his greatest strength amidst a show of only strengths. Striding around the stage confidently and very rapidly, Cook sweeps you up in his enthusiasm and devilish wit, but at the same time remains respectful of how awkward people can feel when brought on stage. He takes particular care to attend to that concern and makes sure that everyone is unembarrassed and comfortable at all times no matter what trick they are participating in.

Keeping pace with Cook’s rapid fire wit is his magic. He charges from one astonishing trick to the next, never giving a moment for the delighted bafflement to fade away before he’s brought it back again. Whether he’s reading someone’s mind or making magic happen in their very hands, Cook astounds both the immediate participant and everyone watching. The finale of Truth or Dare is a particular triumph. Although definitively different than the rest of the tricks that precede it, Cook still somehow weaves the theory into the show so that it stands out in a way that compliments instead of distracts.

Truth or Dare takes the sheer quality, polished nature, and powerful amazement of any magic show and puts it in a free show. If you want to see excellent magic performed, this show is the one to catch before the Fringe is over.

 

More information on Chris Cook and his performance dates can be found here

Originally published here

STRICTLY COME TRANCING

☆☆

Lunchtime is perhaps not the right time for a hypnosis show for adults. Strictly Come Trancing is a show where you can see how it could have been great – if only the sky had been a bit darker and the audience participants a bit tipsier.

The beginning of the performance is promising. Despite hypnotist Ben Dali’s suit screaming ‘sleazy’, his brand of humor is genuine and unaffected, connecting very well with his audience and establishing a base of comradery. Unfortunately, this is quickly lost.

The first thing that goes wrong is that Dali invites his participants onstage instead of doing an opening induction of hypnosis on the audience while people are in their seats. Giving people the option of bringing themselves onto the stage of their own will means that they later feel welcome to leave it in the same fashion. Once people are onstage, the hypnotic inductions are unnecessarily long. Perhaps Dali doesn’t feel comfortable starting the show without this, but the length of it seems boring – and quite probably for those onstage as well. Once the show actually starts, the audience has high expectations for the wait to pay off. Sadly it does not.

In most shows, you cannot blame the audience for the performance being bad. But it is difficult to find fault with Dali’s act. Rarely are all the participants in a stage hypnosis show going to be hypnotised. This doesn’t matter if people play along and give their friends something to laugh at. After all, they choose to be on the stage. But despite Dali’s best efforts, he cannot manage to summon up the necessary humor and connection with his participants to make them want to stay. To his credit, he troops on through the act impressively despite the quickly dispersing participants, but this actually just makes it more painful to watch.

Dali’s Strictly Come Trancing is a funny show with a great title, and is a great and free way to spend an hour laughing at your friends doing silly – but not humiliating – things. But in order for everyone to appreciate it, the people onstage participating need to commit to the show. Because if not, it is an tragically awkward experience.

 

More information on Ben Dali and his performance dates can be found here

Originally published here

COLIN CLOUD: KILLS

☆☆☆

Colin Cloud is the ultimate rockstar mentalist, or as he styles himself, deductionist. He has succeeded in cultivating the most intriguing aesthetic for himself, combining the Victorian mysteriousness of his idol Sherlock Holmes with his own flashy modern tech and dramatic reveals. The astoundingly talented showmanship he demonstrates means that even if his deductions should falter, the entertainment factor never will.

The first part of Cloud’s show consists of him deducing information about the members of his audience- personal or even secret information. There are some awkward falters in this bit, and it seems that truly accurate deduction might rely on being familiar with a large variance of nationalities, which is quite a challenge with the international crowd at the Edinburgh Fringe. However, he does not allow setbacks to disrupt the momentum of the show whatsoever, and brushes off the mistakes so easily and with such quick wit that you would almost believe it was intentional. As he warms up, as well, his powers of deduction kick in most impressively. Even though the shocked gasps of people having unspoken information revealed can never really get old, Cloud makes sure the show does not stagnate by filling it with many different methods of deduction. All with the same premise, but happening in unique and hilarious ways. Every time you think you know how he does it, Cloud immediately proves you wrong.

Just when it seems the show has ended, Cloud lights a candle and solemnly informs us of a new skill he has learned, a new outlet of his powers. What is the worst thing someone with Cloud’s particular talents could do? Well, it’s right there in the title of the show. Unfortunately, perhaps in a haste to become akin to the next Derren Brown, Cloud has premiered this trick before it was finished being perfected. There is a large amount of leading to make sure the audience understands the magnitude of what is about to happen, which would be acceptable if it weren’t for the fact that it never really happens. As far as presentation goes, this demonstration has no faults. It is slick and intriguingly tense. But if you’re paying attention, you will realize that there is no definitive payoff. However, the reality is, it would not be obvious to everyone in the audience, and that is to Cloud’s credit. Colin Cloud is a skillful pied piper of his audiences, and if he says “be impressed”, we will be. After all, nothing could be as impressive as his closing trick, where one deduction from the beginning of the show comes back around to prove that, ultimately, Colin Cloud is smarter than the rest of us combined.

 

More information on Colin Cloud and his performance dates can be found here

Originally published here

COLIN CLOUD: THE FORENSIC MIND READER

☆☆☆☆☆

Any act that incorporates Sherlock Holmes will always have my automatic affection. But the effortless ease with which Mr Cloud incorporated his fascination with the character is spectacular on it’s own merits.

One challenge of the Fringe is that which room you are in definitely sets the tone for your show. And some of the Fringe venues are a little bit shoddy, or even nice but unintended for the purposes they’re now being used for. I got that impression off the Just the Tonic room that Mr Cloud’s show was in. However, his minor additions manged both to blend with the initial surroundings and, for lack of a better phrase, “class the place up a bit.” The tightly packed audience (sold out!) combined with the backdrop, gave off the sensation that you could, in fact, have been transported back to the Victorian era, and found yourself in the fictional detective’s sitting room- both dubious but undeniably curious at what secrets you were wearing in your facial expressions that he would see right through to.

And as if straight from the pages of one of these stories, Mr Cloud delivered his astonishing skill. The audience was repeatedly stunned at the ability he had to seemingly pick thoughts right out of his participants heads- the word from a favorite childhood book, a random number they had only then decided upon themselves, an image chosen from countless possibilities recreated right in front of their eyes. All done with a practiced air of charm and just a little bit of impatient disdain for participants who had trouble following simple directions. After all, nothing could be more Sherlockian. His showmanship was thoroughly on point, softening the adopted affect of superior wisdom by sharing his audience’s enthusiasm.

For a tone so steeped in the air of mystery, Mr Cloud does not pretend to be psychic. Rather, he is upfront about the psychological background of the techniques he uses. He perhaps leaves out mentions of old-school mentalist trickery employed, but we are all here to be entertained. There is a certain thrill to being left bewildered, and Mr Cloud knows where to draw the line between explaining how he’s reading participants lies and leaving bits up the the audience’s baffled imaginations. The combination between his skill at mentalism and his clever wit and showmanship make The Forensic Mind Reader a brilliant and utterly enjoyable experience.

The last three days of Colin Cloud’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe run at Just the Tonic are currently completely sold out, but you may be able to snatch up returns a couple hours before the performances at 5:55pm.

 

More information on Colin Cloud and his performance dates can be found here

ALEX THE MIND READER

☆☆☆☆

(It is so inherently frustrating to my sense of order that this magician didn’t use a colon in his show title like almost literally everyone else does that I want to add one in for the title of this review anyway. Alex: The Mind Reader. Or, alternatively, Alex: the Impressively Adept at Dealing With Claustrophobic Environments).

Picture a mentalist in your mind. Unless your expectation has been tainted with the visage of Derren Brown or perhaps Simon Baker, you probably will summon up an image at least a little like Alex. Dashing in a dramatic mustache, I would have known the man walking past our queue was the mind reader even if he hadn’t put his face on the flyers.

The start of the show was a bit slow, people shuffling into their places in the compact little room, and then filling out the little slips of information that Alex would attempt to glean from us. But everyone was excited right from the start, and that was a really positive way to start a show.

And straight from the start, Alex amazed. He received gasps and applause from his apparent ability to read faces and minds and even pass his ability onto unsuspecting audience members. But one of the best elements tying the entire act together was his wit. Alex thoroughly commanded the room, despite obvious discomfort of the overwarm venue.

Alex the Mind Reader is a genuinely brilliant show, and I think Alex could easily have filled a much larger theater. But he certainty didn’t let the small size diminish the sense of wonder that his show created.

You can see Alex the Mind Reader at 1:30pm at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House on August 21st and 22nd.  

+Extra note- So, after I saw this show I decided I had to drag my friend along for the performance the next day. We were there half an hour and started a queue of people before I realized it wasn’t even on that day. We were so embarrassed we ran off without mentioning this to the other people who had lined up- on my recommendation of the show #sorrynotsorry

 

 

More information on Alex McAleer and his performance dates can be found here

NEIL HENRY’S IMPOSSIBLE

☆☆☆

Note to all magicians: if you do a joke trick with a fake bunny at the beginning of your set, don’t leave it on stage. People will be distracted the entire time wondering if that bunny is going to become switched for a real one. Gotta say I’m a little disappointed.

Bunnies aside, Neil Henry presented an excellent show. His tricks were magic classics, but done with such skill and ease that even someone looking in all the right places wouldn’t see how they were being fooled. Even when presented with the challenge of easily confused audience participants, Mr Henry maintained his funny patter and kept his crowd laughing.

A particularly great moment of the show was the finale, at which point Mr Henry created legitimate concern and tension with his crowning act. Even though audiences who come to magic shows generally know that the magician has their show under control and probably won’t be harmed, Mr Henry’s last trick had people looking away and wincing- but definitely peeking through their hands.

This skillful control of the atmosphere showed the masterful showmanship Mr Henry had created even with his somewhat goofy persona, and certainty had audience members hissing ‘impossible’ afterwards as they squinted and poked at the cards onstage.

Neil Henry’s Impossible is on at Pleasance Courtyard at 3:50pm until August 25th.

ALAN HUDSON: TRICK TEASER

☆☆☆

‘No secrets’ could be the tagline for this show. Considering the ‘mystery’ appeal that most magicians will make their living on, this is a bit out of the ordinary. Alan Hudson’s show is pure silly, happy, humble magic, and he doesn’t pretend to be anything more than exactly what he is.

And what he is is spelled out right on his flyer: a comic with a feel-good magic show. But it works because he does it well. He’s working in a small venue here at the Fringe, where he stands at the same level as the audience, only a few feet from them. No room for frills or secrets, it’s just you and the magician- and Mr Hudson is a funny, friendly guy. He manages to make his audience like him nearly immediately, with jokes that hint of self deprecation, stupid dancing, and purposefully see-through magic.

This is all particularly notable on the night when I went. Mr Hudson messed up a trick in a way he couldn’t salvage in the moment. But perhaps with the exception of the woman whose wedding ring was now missing, he still had the audience on his side. The attitude was of willingness to gloss past the problem, not to blame him for messing it up.

Perhaps not the guy to see if you want to be utterly astounded, but if you want to see some cool tricks and genuinely laugh for nearly an hour straight, Alan Hudson is the right choice.

Alan Hudson‘s Edinburgh Festival Fringe show is on at Gilded Balloon at 19:45 until August 25th (not on the 13th).

PAUL DABEK: LIAR LIAR

☆

I’m the kind of critic you want at your show. I’m inclined to see the best in an act, and I come to shows willing to be amazed, not with my asshole hat on. That being said-

Mr Dabek’s flyer says he ‘weaves a web of comedy, magic, and lies.’ I didn’t realize his claim of comedy and magic was the lie. He started his show off with his enthusiasm and flair, flicking cards around and peacocking all around the stage. A valid and exciting start to the show, but it went rapidly downhill from there.

I don’t want to make this review all about his showmanship (although I do love critiquing showmanship) but that is the only thing there was to observe. He did no actual magic, so I can’t assess any skill in that. And I didn’t notice any comedy either, aside from a validly amusing NHS joke that a lot of comedians would have skipped on the grounds of being to easy.

So, showmanship it is. He was terrible. Paul mistook ‘loud’ to mean ‘funny’ and instead of ‘flirting with the audience’ went for ‘skeeving on the audience’. Sometimes he took a break from jumping around and shouting to be actually, overtly offensive. He indulged in some moderate racism- oh I’m sorry, xenophobia. Then, upon bringing a girl onstage, became rudely dismissive of her upon learning she had a girlfriend.

Mr Dabek has the right inherent enthusiasm, but he needs to get some skills- and a new personality.

But feel free to disagree with me! Paul Dabek is on at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Jam House on August 11, 13, 15-18, 20-22 at 21:30.

CHRIS DUGDALE: MORE MAGIC AND MISCHIEF

☆☆☆

The first thing you will notice when More Magic and Mischief starts is that Chris Dugdale just radiates absurd, over-dramatic cheesiness. This is a fine line of a choice, wander too far and you risk making the audience want to punch the smarmy grin right off your face. But somehow, Mr Dugdale has actually cultivated it to the point of being hopelessly charming. It’s the kind of showmanship that will make you think ‘you utter goof’ while grinning and clapping loudly.

And clap loudly the audience does. Mr Dugdale interacts well with his crowd, focusing (and this is a warning if you’re planning on going to his show) on those in the front row. He weaves participation into many of his bits, interacting playfully but never disrespectfully. Rather he- and there’s this word again- charms his participants through tricks with predictions, reappearing cards, words in books, and an unexpected use of citrus.

The general rule of magic is that the performer will capture your attention exactly where they don’t want you to look, but even I, knowing where to look, took going to the show four times to catch even a couple of his tricks. As a rule I don’t go onstage the first time I see a performer, and then of course, I can’t go on if I attend again during the rest of the show run because I know what’s going to happen. However, I did peer pressure a friend into going up. She, a person who prides herself on being unreadable, was astonished at how quickly he could guess the word she was thinking of.

This is not to say that he’s perfect. I work with a lot of actors, so I am very observant of flubbed lines. And there are a couple of places in his show that he has distinct trouble with- watch for stumbles around mentions of Tesco’s finest wine and President Obama. But in his defense, the ability to weave a mostly set script around improv to audience participation is impressive, and he carries it off at most times. I wouldn’t notice these stumbles if I hadn’t seen them repeated at the six times I’ve seen his Fringe show so far- yes, I’ve gone six times, so who’s really winning?

Mr. Dugdale mentions Las Vegas in his show, and nothing could be more spot on. He emanates slick charm and skill indicative of a Las Vegas performer, and keeps his audience laughing and bewildered- without ever condescending to them. From start to finish his Edinburgh Fringe show is a captivating experience that will delight any and everyone.

 

Chris Dugdale: More Magic and Mischief is going on at Assembly George Square Studios during the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, at 18:50 on August 12-17, 19-25.