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Jamie Raven 'Making Magic' Tour 2018
Grand Theatre, Lancaster
24th September
Reviewed by Brian Lead MIMC
It
was a pleasure to attend the opening night of Jamie’s new touring show, Making
Magic at the Grand Theatre in Lancaster, described by Dickens as one of the
loveliest little theatres in the land. It is the perfect venue for a magic show,
and the premise behind this one is that randomly chosen members of the audience
can be turned into magicians as well as assistants. It’s the first time I’ve
seen an opening sequence encouraging people to keep on their mobile phones and
take pictures/videos at any point during the show!
The evening begins with an on-screen ‘Jamie of the past’ (ostensibly recorded
during the World Cup) who asks a few trick questions to warm up the audience
before relating to the ‘live’ Jamie of the present and making several
predictions; one of which guides the choice of the bizarre costume which will be
worn by the box-jumping assistant Henri White. Audience members are invited to
take selfies, upload them to social media then post them to Jamie’s crew, who
select volunteers by means of a ‘randomiser’. It must be a first.
Jamie sets out seven principles behind magic, asking the audience to look out
for them as the evening progresses. It is so refreshing to sit in the middle of
a real audience and feel their response to classics such as the Linking Rings,
Five Card Repeat (presented in honour of Wayne Dobson) Multum in Parvo and the
Multiplying Bottles, with the woman next to me spontaneously crying out “no
way!” when the newspaper into which a jug of water had been poured turned out to
be as dry as a bone.
Jamie reacts wonderfully well to children, helping them to read out instructions
when necessary and never belittling anyone . . . even turning the tables on
himself as the ‘bad guy’ when a cute little chap seems to be about to have a cup
of water poured over his head, only for the liquid to evaporate.
There is some impressive close-up work with cards and coins, projected onto a
large screen. There are plenty of groan-worthy gags, an original audience
participation piece to end part one with a collective gasp, and a drawing
together of themes in a final revelation which structurally takes us back full
circle to the opening remarks.
In the toilets afterwards (the best place to overhear unguarded comments) the
punters were genuinely delighted with the evening.
It was Wayne Dobson himself who said that if they like you they will like
whatever you do, and this is true of Jamie. His rapport with all volunteers is
exemplary, and he is willing to stay around in the foyer for as long as it takes
for photographs and a chat . . . so do yourself a favour and become a normal
spectator again. At least you can be certain of a hug and a photo opportunity.
©
Brian Lead MIMC (President IBM British Ring 2018/19), September 2018