☆☆☆

Max Davidson doesn’t even need to be onstage to get his audience to do what he wants. His new Fringe show Strangers opens with instructions for his first participant, who is whoever is first to self-select from the audience, before Davidson even introduces himself. At the reviewed show the potential awkward silence had no time to develop before someone leapt to the stage. Davidson is clearly attracting an enthusiastic audience, and his trust in them is both heartwarming and justified.

Davidson’s theme for his magic is memory. A popular genre of tricks, most magic fans will have seen a magician perform one of two of the effects that he uses, but rarely all of them at once. Notably, during one routine Davidson openly and lightheartedly admits that his goal is to gaslight his participant. Many, perhaps most, magicians will attempt to gaslight some or all of their audience during their shows, the best so successfully that, aside from the tacit consent of purchasing a ticket for a magic show, it passes unnoticed by the audience. Few have the honesty and talent to admit to it ahead of time and still pull it off.

The vast majority of the tricks used may be familiar to magic fans, but Davidson puts them together in routines that, by virtue of their creative combinations, feel fresh and interesting. A highlight sees him read a piece of information from a random participant’s mind that hasn’t been written down or mentioned in any way ahead of time, for a particularly impressive reveal. While at the reviewed show not everything goes perfectly to plan, Davidson pivots excellently to keep the energy up and the magic flowing.

Despite admitting to attempted gaslighting, Davidson comes across as warm and welcoming to those who participate in his magic—the honesty is perhaps beneficial here. Davidson pulls from volunteers for his more involved participation moments, and at the reviewed show there is no shortage. The appreciation he expresses to each participant who joins him leaves the rest of the audience increasingly happy to take a turn onstage as the show goes on.

Davidson’s premise is that the audience might arrive Strangers to him, but by the time they leave he will know everything he needs to to read their minds. By the time they see his impressive finale, the audience may very well agree. His audiences will be pleased to no longer consider Davidson a stranger.