I’M NOT going to describe Magnus “Danger” Magnus as a ringmaster because after seeing this show, that would bring back Vietnam vet-style PTSD.
I’ll explain in a minute.
This show is brought to you by comedy magicians Sam and Justin and it couldn’t be further from their kid-centric The Greatest Magic Show! if it tried.
Master of Ceremonies Magnus makes this quite clear from the off and if you think you saw a lot of him in the family-friendly show, you see a HELL of a lot more of him in this one.
At one point I think the front row could see what he’d had for breakfast.
This show is aimed squarely at the late-night audience who have had a couple of shandies, and a pint or two certainly helps the good-time atmosphere – not that the hyped-up crowd I was in with needed any further encouragement to have a rare old hoot.
There’s a lot of audience participation but the reward for being called up onto the stage is that your next drink is on the boys.
But don’t for a second think that they are anything less than consummate magicians. This is Vegas-quality conjuring and even if you suspect where a trick is heading, you can’t help but sit there wondering, “How the heck did they do that?”
There’s an escapology routine that is as impressive as it is hilarious but my highlight was when, to mark 10 years doing magic together, Sam does the very first trick he ever performed in front of Justin.
It’s a proper, old-school card trick and the highest praise I can give it is to say it’s worthy of close-up card maestro Jerry Sadowitz.
And they also call to mind another master of magic, Tommy Cooper, by making something seemingly going wrong effortlessly funny.
After Magnus’s early warning I was expecting a smattering of nudity but I have to admit, what I found most disturbing was the boys both dressed as Britney Spears in full schoolgirl mode – a sight that will live with me for some time…
Adults Only Magic Show
21:15
Assembly George Square Studios
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/adults-only-magic-show
