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Paddy the Irishman is a frequent flyer at the Edinburgh Fringe, and in his new show How Lucky Can One Man Get, he tells the story of his eventful life interspersed with jokes, magic, and music. He caters to the family friendly crowd with his early morning time slot, at the reviewed show there were several families with preteen and teenage children. Paddy has had an interesting life so far, and in his company the time flies by.

There are relatively few magic tricks in the show, but those that are there are performed well. Paddy tells the audience about his childhood in Northern Ireland, and includes a magic trick that saved him from the army early in the show. For the younger folks he also demonstrates a common street scam, which at the reviewed show sparked a particular interest in the young volunteers he chose to help him demonstrate it. The participants could be heard discussing theories and phrases to further research the effect as they were leaving the show. Even if they do not end up inspired to become magicians themselves, learning how their attention can be so easily manipulated is a great lesson for young people today.

Not every story is accompanied by a trick, but that’s not detrimental to the show. Paddy has had many adventures in his life that are a pleasure to hear about. For audience members who have been lucky enough to have grown up in peaceful times, hearing about his youthful encounters with military forces is fascinating to hear about. Paddy’s casual attitude in recounting these episodes is interesting to note. He has also travelled widely and lived in several countries, each of which is described in turn. The songs that Paddy sings are related to his stories as well, but really just an excuse for him to show off that he recently learned to play guitar. This is inspiring in its own way. As Paddy points out, he’s lived a longer life so far than many of the people he gets in his audiences, and demonstrates his continued love of learning and adventuring in part to show us that we can age as gracefully.

How Lucky Can One Man Get is essentially a one man, one show full Fringe. He’s got the magic, comedy, and music all in one hour long performance—going to this show is like a speed run of the Fringe experience.