Monday Night Magic a Massive Success....
North pier was the venue for the first Showzam Fringe event of the festival and if Steve Faulkner’s Monday Night Magic was anything to go by, Showzam 2012 will be the best yet.
The Merrie England Bar on the North Pier was standing room only as the news spread that Steve and his impressive roster of performers were in town, and at £8 a ticket, this two hour event had to be one of the best value for money shows you are likely to see anywhere this year. The Merrie England buzzed with excitement and anticipation as the audience hurried to order their drinks and secure the best seats for the 8pm start.
Steve, who has twice won the street magician of the year award, was a warm and graceful host throughout. His witty banter and impressive illusions have been impeccably fine tuned throughout his career and there is no doubt in my mind that that the audience would have been more than happy for him to perform solo all night. He introduced the evening and his first guest, the wonderful Alan Hudson, a finalist in Hackney Empire New Act Of the Year. His impressive slight of hand and thimble performance was the perfect start to the evening and set the standard for what was to follow.
Slightly Fat Features (performing at the Sands all this week), showed why they are the undoubted kings of family entertainment. Whilst the performance was more stunt orientated than magic, the boys from Wales had the audience in fits of laughter with an impressive combination of Slapstick comedy and audience participation (I don’t think ‘Ted’ will be attending any magic shows for a while).
After the interval, Steve returned with a master-class on miss direction and his own unique twist on the well-known 3 ball and cup trick (I still don’t know where that melon came from!), before introducing John Archer, who marched onto stage and then proceeded to swallow a 6 foot inflated balloon, whole! What followed was a performance that combined music, comedy, mathematics and magic to the highest standard.
It is a real shame that this was only a one night show as it easily could have had a longer run to a larger audience. With illusionists like Dynamo and Penn and Teller taking centre stage on TV, it is refreshing to go back to the roots of magic and see tricks up close and personal, with no gimmicks or large sets, just pure individual skill of the highest level.
All things considered, the show was absolutely fantastic and the perfect start to the Showzam Fringe events.
Written by Chris Pope
Photography by Chris Pope