As a highly successful franchise, with shows running on several continents at once, The Illusionists brings masters of magic to multitudes throughout the year.
The conceit of dressing it up in the style of the early 20th century (when illusionists, or stage magicians, stepped out of the frame of music hall to create their own individual shows) is marred slightly in the first half by being just a little bit ponderous in presentation. After the interval, however, these extremely talented world class performers come into their own.
The audience is invited to dress up in the style of 1903, and while the opening night audience seemed to have been taken unawares of this added attraction, or perhaps the demands of finding such attire in 21st century Brisbane were just too hard. However, this is family entertainment at its best, and families turned out with kids of all ages to take advantage of it.
I don’t want to do any spoilers, so I will just say that Charlie Frye is a mega star of juggling comedy, Rick Thomas a maestro of illusion – and you can save yourself the airfare to Las Vegas, because his years as a top line entertainer in that home of class acts mean you are in for a treat, right here on home ground. Armando Lucero says he will do things with cards and coins that you simply will not believe, and he does.
There is some wonderfully elegant and naughty involvement of members of the audience, as these trickster artistes taunt them in the nicest possible way. While I am not personally a fan of extreme sports or experiencing pain in the name of entertainment, daredevil Jonathan Goodwin demonstrates the years of dedication to his craft and subsequent skill with panache and humour.
We have seen a lot of so-called mind readers, or mentalists exposed in recent years, so that anyone who has been watching tv shows that thrive on debunking such acts is well aware of the most common and obvious tricks that they use. Thommy Ten and Amélie van Tass – The Clairvoyants – don’t use any of them. Thommy moves through the auditorium asking audience members to take something out of their bag or pocket, and Amélie, on the stage several hundred metres away, blindfolded, tells us not only what it is – perhaps a mobile phone – but details about it – colour and make for example.
And there is more… Do yourself a favour, don’t miss it. The mastery on show is no illusion.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The Illusionists 1903
The Immortal – Rick Thomas
The Eccentric – Charlie Frye
The Daredevil – Jonathan Goodwin
The Showman – Mark Kalin
The Confuress – Jinger Leigh
The Clairvoyants – Thommy Ten & Amélie van Tass
The Maestro – Armando Lucero
QPAC, Concert Hall
4 – 11 January 2015
Adelaide Festival Centre, Festival Theatre
15-25 January