James Phelan: Showman magic review – Cerebral, artificial familiarity
Rooted in mentalism, James Phelan’s overly psychological magic set feels stuffy and inauthentic
A magician never reveals his tricks, or so the old adage goes, but James Phelan throws out the rulebook with Showman. He centres the human mind in his latest offering, drawing on the power of imagination to wow his audience and, while it’s certainly an interesting angle for a magic show, the effect proves lacklustre.
For his first trick, Phelan goes for the classic ‘pick a card, any card’ but with a twist. Where most magicians emphasise randomness, Phelan psychologically profiles each volunteer before successfully guessing their card. The trick is at once too mundane to be entertaining and too specific to feel authentic, sitting uncomfortably between the two. He continues his foray into the human psyche with a hypnosis portion. You get the impression, though, that Phelan’s volunteers are going along with the supposed hypnosis more out of social awkwardness than suggestibility. There’s a distinct feeling too that the audience are applauding for the same reason.
Showman isn’t a total dud. There are some great sleight-of-hand tricks as well as a truly impressive feat of mind-reading, but the hypnosis section coupled with quite a few technical stumbles and miscommunications result in an underwhelming show.
James Phelan: Showman, Underbelly Circus Hub, until 29 August, 5.15pm.