Review: Jackson Aces – Beyond Possible at The Playhouse Theatre

Review by Alison Stoddart

On a bitterly cold and wet winter night in Sydney, Jackson Aces - Beyond Possible could have been a step to far for many, but venturing out on this opening night at the Sydney Opera House was ultimately worth it.

The Playhouse Theatre played host to magical illusionist and master of cardistry, Jackson Aces, a performer whose sleight of hand and stage presence had the audience involved from the start, or even before the start. The delight in finding playing cards on the arm of each seat certainly created a frisson of excitement in the audience when they sat down and realised they would be participating in at least one trick, if not more, during the performance.

The performance takes place on a bare stage, with props like the illusion box for the obligatory ‘sawing a girl in half’ trick brought on and off stage by members of the stage crew. Mr Aces himself bounds across the stage, dressed nattily in a waistcoat and spangled jeans.  He deliberately leaves his forearms bare, forestalling any accusations of ‘tricks up his sleeves’.

His performance is placed firmly in the family friendly camp and he deliberately chooses a young boy to be his first audience participant.  This ties in nicely with a backstory imbued with pathos about his youth, his magician ambitions and his grandfather.

What follows is a mix of the known and expected like appearances and disappearances of female assistants, his amazing skills in cardistry that transforms playing cards into visual displays, and more audience participation. He ends the first act with his self-proclaimed ‘precise moment in time’ trick, a seemingly uninspired calculator trick.  Encouraging everyone to participate on their phones, Jackson has audience members punch into his phone sight unseen numbers resulting in a random number that turns out to be the precise date and time. A trick that surely relies on the first act finishing on time which is nonetheless very impressive and has the all-important ‘wow’ factor.

And that is where the success of this show lies, not the intricacies of the illusions or the quickness of his hand, but in the simple ways he impresses his audience. A show in this genre needs to tap into human nature as well as relying on the mastery of his craft (although his mastery could be tweaked and improved in places when slips in the line of sight to the audience reveals a few hidden props that explain some tricks. Things are glimpsed that shouldn’t be).

The overwhelming admiration for his date and time trick, in contrast to the mediocre ‘sawing a girl in half’ illusion, makes us muse on how he did it and it is this that engages the audience.

To a cynical and critical observer like me, his card trick that involved the whole audience (cue the playing cards left on each seat) was an experience that must be seen to be believed.  Needless to say, it can’t be explained or even pondered deeply on, or you would be up all night. This trick alone is worth the ticket price.

Jackson rounds out his show with a speech of gratitude to his family (in attendance this night) particularly his mother and a nod to his grandfather. His finale of that old scarf trick but this time with bottles of alcohol is a fitting tribute.

Jackson Aces serves up an entertaining and, at times, enthralling show.  His charm and ease on stage is infectious and he soon has the audience communicating freely with him. He is a highly entertaining performer and appealed across the generations. As the crowd dispersed into the cold night, the murmurs of ‘unbelievable’ and ‘wow’ could still be heard.

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