Magic Goes Wrong Review

Yvonne Arnoud Theatre – until 30th January 2022

Reviewed by Emily Cliff

4****

Picture the scene, it’s Christmas morning or boxing day, your younger family member has just opened their brand new ‘Magic for Kids’ gift set and for the rest of the day life is nothing but electric shock handshakes and coins appearing out of various body parts. Magic Goes Wrong is exactly that, but in a theatre with a full audience. From the creators of the hit West End show ‘The Play That goes WrongMagic Goes Wrong is a night of theatre that really feels like you’ve ventured into the circus tent.’

The contents of the show is exactly what it says on the tin, magic going wrong. However, in the mist of all the laughs and the giggles, some rather impressive illusions and magic tricks have been thorown into the mix too, leaving the audience amazed and dazzled by this trickery. The show itself was set up very well from the moment you entered the theatre. There were little comedy skits going on stage that set up the entire atmosphere of the show bwfre most of the audience had even staken their seats. From doves flying around the theatre to audience members getting the opportunity to be a apart of the show itself.

One of the highlights of this show was the skit from the mysterious Mind Mangler (portrayed by Rory Fairbairn). The talent of reading minds is something we all wished we possessed, the Mind Manglers abilities were far from impressive and seemed like the type of reading you’d get from a £5 tarot card reading in Camden market. The fraud type personality of the Mind Manger was paired with fantastic comedic timing and cheeky teleprompter changes here and there.

A play where all theatre etiquette goes out of the window, where audience members are encouraged to heckle and cheer is bound to be a night of good fun as it is. However, one downfall of this play is that some of the jokes and skits felt a little outdated and cringe worthy. While on the whole it was an enjoyable comedic play, a few of the skits and jokes needed a little refinement as it did feel as though they were trying too hard, sometimes less is more and the far more simple skits were the ones that got the loudest laughs from the audience.

Overall this play was full of magical charm and charisma however I still think its finding its footing in the delivery of some of the skits. From cheeky lighting mishaps, to dead doves Magic Goes Wrong is a dazzling and entertaining evening of theatre, with superb audience involvement.