www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/summerwithatwist/article2570058.ece

A great piece on magic with a lovely mention for Magic Night.

Comedy - could it be magic now?

Review by Tommy Holgate

www.spoonfed.co.uk/spooners/gemmabergomi-5194/magic-night-at-madame-jojos-1435/

Magic Night
Verdict: Cuddly and gross-out magic
London - Madame JoJo's - 3 April 09 (monthly) - 19:45 (2:00 including one interval)

Magic Night is a monthly showcase for well-known and up-and-coming names in magic - though with as much emphasis on laughs as on deceit and sleight of hand. Tonight's loose theme is video magic. There's a screen at the back of the stage, and a large brown box at the front. Tonight's MC Christian Lee comes up on the video screen from another part of the building, to the Doctor Who (a UK nominally-children's TV series) theme. He says that the box is a 'receivership box' which will transmit him on to the stage on the count of three. An assistant shows that the box is empty and then a few seconds later, out jumps Christian Lee. It's an old trick but a fair opener for the nattily dressed MC - in black shiny polyester suit, red shirt and white tie. It might though have been better if receivership was spelt correctly. Christian Lee is all enthusiasm. He's a good MC who provides links between the acts with humour and magic - tricks such=2 0as dice predictions and the wheel of hypnosis.
Lee Hathaway is located off-stage at the front of the auditorium. He performs his short set of card magic, filmed by cameraman Walt Utz and projected onto the screen. Lee Hathaway is a tall man with a Bill Hicks t-shirt and a friendly manner. He's like a clever mate, as he talks through card-cheating techniques. He shows different ways of dealing them – bottom deals, riffle shuffle stacks that are cleanly executed. But he perhaps needs to give it a more presentational oomph to go with his obvious ability. Canadian Wes Zahuruk has an ambling presence; he's wearing an oversized rain mac, like a down-at-heel private eye in a Raymond Chandler (mid-20th Century American crime writer) novel or Columbo (1970s American detective TV series). He starts with a floating ball. He does some nifty juggling with a rather heavy-looking bowling ball over the body of a scared-looking volunteer. He undresses and dresses impossibly quickly. He gets a volunteer to tell a story using her hands. Nothing particularly original, but her is funny and a charismatic performer. There's an interval following his act. There's a spot of tap-dancing burlesque with Vicious Delicious. The slot is too short to make much impression. Christian Lee does a variant on the cups and balls trick - three polystyrene cups and a hidden spike. Headliners are masters of gross-out magic Barry & Stuart. They do a twist on the linking-rings20trick involves a girl, a blindfold and a coat hanger. A needle is inserted into one eye and out of the other, via a very reluctant date scenario involving Stuart and a nervous-looking volunteer. A drink appears to pass through from one to the other by an elaborate bottle and tube contraption and some lurid suggestion. It's not all gore - there's some light relief with mind-reading predictions involving stylophones and record sleeves. Barry & Stuart come across as funny guys, with a great line in witty banter and an almost telepathic - perhaps highly scripted - ability to finish off each other's sentences. It may be possible to take it all a bit too literally, forgetting for a moment that it's magic and not real. Some may warm more to cuddly Wes Zahuruk. The great thing about Magic Night is that there's room on the bill for both.
Cast Credits: MC - Christian Lee. Performers (alpha order) - Barry & Stuart. Vicious Delicious. Lee Hathaway. Neil Henry. Wes Zaharuk.
Company Credits: Writer - (individual performer). Director - (individual performer). Sound Engineer - John Childs. Camera Technician - Walt Utz. Producer - Catia Ciarico. Company - uncredited.
END
(c) Ruth Morris 2009
reviewed Friday 3 April 2009 / Madame JoJo's, London UK
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Repo rt 2002-2009
www.fringereport.com

Electric Empire Presents Magic Night..........

'The hippest night in London......'

'The frontier of Comedy...'

'Forget rabbits and top hats...'

There's kiddy-safe magic - think coins from behind ears, rabbits from hats and, erm, swords in boxes - and then there's creepy what-the-fug magic that causes you to question your sanity and crank your meds way up. This is, of course, deeply in the territory of the latter. True, you'll be freaked right out of town, but you'll love it.' Time Out