There was a collective gasp of astonishment
I think I’m safe in saying that all fans of magic will have watched the film, Now You See Me. And, like me, probably watched the two follow-up films. Who doesn’t want to see big banks losing their money to a band of illusionists – The Four Horsemen – then seeing it shared out amongst the less affluent, writes Michael Holland.
Now, magic fans can watch Now You See Me Live, a stage show inspired by the films, from the same producers – Lionsgate. But this time the trickery could not be hidden behind smoke, mirrors, and camera trickery, because it is right there on the stage, with cameras following the latest Four Horseman around to project all the close-up legerdemain onto a huge screen. And even then you cannot see where the cards are coming from, how the personal items went from a container on the stage, that had never left our sight, to a locked box suspended above the stage.
The lights flashed, the music relentlessly pounded away, increasing the excitement, adding to the action before our very eyes. While we wondered how a chair beneath a satin sheet turned into another man in a helicopter, the show moved on, and we had to leave those confusing thoughts behind or get lost in our own mind’s mental maze.
The illusions were magical, the tricks made you shake your head in wonderment, the non-stop action had you looking up, down, in the shadows, in the private boxes, and in the aisles, because the action was not just happening on the stage. It was everywhere.
One of the best moments was when we ourselves were the conjurors. Everyone was handed four playing cards on entering the theatre. Then, at one point, we were told to hold them face down. Then shuffle them. Then rip them in half. Shuffle again. Put the bottom card on top. Shuffle. Throw the top card away. Repeat over and over until you had thrown away all your half pieces of card and had just two pieces left. Now we were allowed to look at what we had. The collective gasp of astonishment was at seeing the two halves that remained perfectly matched. And it wasn’t just my companion and me; it was everyone around us, all confused at what chicanery we were party to, all holding up our matching cards. When our eyes returned to the stage, The Four Horsemen had departed, and the lights came up for the interval, leaving us some time to gather our senses.
The second half continued with much of the same. Trick after trick. Deception after deception. Astonishment piled onto astonishment. Andrew Basso showed us how an illusion was performed, but in the show-and-tell, it became an even greater illusion.
At one point, a young 9-year-old girl was called up to assist with a trick. Matthew Pomeroy got down to little Rachel’s level and made her feel at ease before asking, ‘Who brings all the wonderful presents to all the children in the world at Christmas?’
Rachel’s answer? ‘Amazon’. She got the biggest laugh and didn’t know why.
Enzo Weyne, Andrew Basso, Gabriella Lester, Matthew Pomeroy, Rafferty Coope, Eden Choi, Fraser Penman, I bow down to you all, and thank you for an extravaganza of Magic!
London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4ES until September 6th.
Booking and full details: https://londoncoliseum.org/events/now-you-see-me-live/
