Review by Emily Smith
MCed by Perth’s own Magnus D. Magnus with his signature flair and energy, magicians Sam and Justin entertained the audience of the Lotterywest De Parel Spiegeltent in the Pleasure Garden with laughs, magic, and just enough nudity to satisfy a FRINGE audience in the Adults Only Magic Show.
It is my due diligence to warn readers that this show has content warnings of strong Audience Participation. However, despite those words sending shivers down the spines of even hardened audience members, rest assured that Sam and Justin were kind and welcoming (pronounced: heavily flirtatious) and all the volunteers had a wonderful time, plus received a free drink token for their efforts!
As well as the excellent banter we were treated to some top-rated card tricks, impressive escapes, and multiple tricks where answers given by the audience at random were revealed to have been predicted and locked in a box or in an envelope well in advance. Despite discussing what we saw all the way home, my date and I could not figure out how they did it. My next request is that Sam and Justin magic up some comfier seats for the FRINGE venues, or at least a decent cushion.
Of course, the show specifies Adults Only for a reason, and the team did not disappoint, finding multiple opportunities to Houdini out of their clothes, and leaving us weeping with laughter at the ‘reveal’. Don’t take your children but if you’ve any older relatives that are missing the spice of life send them to the De Parel Spiegeltent for a wake up call.
The magic tricks were in a way secondary to the fun Sam and Justin were clearly having on stage, and their enjoyment was infectious. After ten years of working together (happy anniversary lads) they bounce of each other easily, and still laugh at each others’ jokes (or do a great job of pretending). Justin’s banter with the audience is saucy and hilarious, and along with Magnus’ electric energy it would take a tougher nut than me to not get caught up in the excitement. Perhaps the real magic was the friends we made along the way.
Image Supplied