☆☆☆☆

The impact of Chinese culture on the international conception and performance of magic is undeniable, perhaps most obviously in the ubiquity of the classic linking rings effect. However, while Edinburgh increasingly sees magic from a variety of international performers, China’s magical heritage is most often illustrated to Fringegoers by magicians with no personal connection to it. Luckily, this gap in the Fringe magic program has been filled this year by Keanu Ho, who has brought his Eastern Illusions Reimagined from Hong Kong. Ho updates tradition to perform a set that feels both modern and imbued with his own personality, while also acting as a means of cultural expression and exchange.

Eastern Illusions Reimagined is part of the Fringe’s Chinese Culture Week, and perhaps the emphasis on explaining Chinese magical heritage is in part due to this brief, but Ho expresses what feels like a real and deserved pride in that heritage. The linking rings, commonly described as Chinese linking rings, are of course given a prominent role in his opening act. At other points, Ho’s own personality shines through especially clearly. His card routine is a highlight of creative presentation. Describing it as a “card routine” doesn’t do justice to the experience of watching it; Ho turns a trick that many magic fans might have seen before into a moment that is exceptionally fun and exciting to see.

In between the magic, Ho is approachable and informal, chatting with his tech support and the Chinese Culture Week staff. It does, at times, feel less like a magic show and more like Ho is hosting a gathering of friends, introducing his new friends in the audience to his older friends who are involved in the production. There is of course plenty of magic presented, but these interludes highlight Ho’s hospitality as he invites the audience to witness and take part in his routines.

By magic show standards Eastern Illusions Reimagined is relatively light on audience participation. Most of the audience are able to join in from their seats, examining the props that Ho brings for them to examine. For the one more involved role, Ho was able to select the most enthusiastic audience member to participate, and she was clearly overjoyed to be able to experience the magic from a closer perspective. It’s worth noting that the Chinese Culture Week staff who sat in on the reviewed performance helped Ho curate his hospitable atmosphere, most notably in helping this participant get photos and videos of her time onstage.

Eastern Illusions Reimagined is a well crafted, well performed show, both as a piece of cultural exchange and as a magic show in its own right. Ho is an excellent performer who seems born for the stage. At the reviewed show Ho surprisingly revealed that he was mostly retired from performing magic prior to preparing for this Fringe run, and instead works as an educator and mentor to children in Hong Kong. His audience will undoubtedly hope that he continues to create and perform magic, they will be keen to see more from this engaging, exciting performer.