Canberra Theatre to
16 December
Reviewed by Len Power
7 December 2018
Watching ‘The Illusionists’ gives you back that intense childhood
sense of wonder you thought you’d lost. Their
performances are slick, colourful, spectacular and incredibly involving from
start to finish.
The show tours internationally with eight magicians. They perform a full range of magical
illusions, some classical and some new.
While children will love it, it’s not aimed specifically at
children. Some of the humour is quite
adult but nothing to be concerned about.
All of the performers are vocally confident and they are all obviously
at the top of their game.
There is a lot of participation by members of the
audience. As the show progressed and it
became clear that the participation wasn’t threatening or embarrassing, many
audience members showed their keenness to take part.
Jeff Hobson, known as ‘The Trickster’ in the show performed as
an amusing Liberace-style compere and performed some amazing tricks himself. ‘The Daredevil’, Jonathan Goodwin, does the
most edgy performances of all. His thrilling
strait-jacket escape is a fiery and fitting tribute to the great magician, Houdini.
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| Jonathan Goodwin - 'The Daredevil' |
Illusionist, Kevin James, introduced as ‘The Inventor’ in
the show, involved children delightfully in two standout items, one involving a
rose and the other concerning snow. His
work with the children created immediate trust and will probably result in more
than one of those children wanting to be a magician when they grow up.
 |
| Kevin James - 'The Inventor' |
Korean magician, An Ha Lim performed the most magical and
complex card tricks and Chris Cox was extraordinary and very entertaining with
his mind-reading act. Mark Kalin and
Jinger Leigh performed brilliant illusions, especially disappearances from
boxes and a trick involving rings from audience members. Robyn Sharpe gave us an exciting act involving
sharp spikes and a performer inside a cardboard box.
Production values for the show are very high with an
attractive set and a large projection screen so that even the most intimate
illusions can be clearly seen from anywhere in the theatre. The lighting design is excellent as are the
well-chosen dramatic music and sound effects.
This show really delivers an evening of incredible magic and
this rave review is no illusion!
Photos by Mark Turner
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast in his ‘On Stage’ performing arts radio program on Mondays
and Wednesdays from 3.30pm on Artsound FM 92.7.
