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Magic On Tap Halloween Special
The Sampling Room, Harrogate
9th October 2025
Reviewed by John Walker
A
night of thrills and chills from a trio of performers — Foster the Mindreader,
Sylvia Sceptre, and Doctor Diablo — held in the unlikely venue of a bar set in
an industrial estate!
A no-frills stage setting of a plywood arch and curtain faced the small but
intimate crowd as mindreader and host Paul Forster introduced himself after a
warm-up featuring a tossed-out deck of cards with different designs. Audience
members merely peeked at a card, and he successfully divined their choices — an
impressive start.
His theme was the history of Victorian séances. Audience participation tonight
was high, with a demonstration of automatic writing matching a prior prediction,
leading into a story of patients in a lunatic asylum featuring a genuine patient
register booklet. From it, impossible details about the patient — only thought
of by the participant — were revealed by Paul. Very chilling.
Sylvia Sceptre followed, looking like a cross between a gypsy fortune-teller and
a favourite aunt, introducing us to Jeffrey, her deceased cat, who was stuffed —
figuratively and literally — into a small cabinet onstage. Jeffrey’s spirit
roamed around the audience and helped with a prediction effect! Funny and weird
in equal measures.
After a short interval, Doctor Diablo entertained us with circus freak-show
stunts such as fire-eating and a queasy demonstration of hammering a nail up his
nose. Not content with a nail, he proceeded to insert a moving electric drill
bit — the gasps and cries of disgust from the audience were numerous.
Diablo then attempted to break his record for a straitjacket escape of three
minutes. There was much laughter when an audience member struggled to buckle him
up, allowing a second volunteer to come onstage — rather eager to assist. The
Doctor did apparently break his record successfully.
Bookending the show, Paul Forster returned to demonstrate a very creepy trick
involving a haunted doll. A girl from the audience sat blindfolded whilst, from
across the room, movements from the doll matched hers! The doll’s arm moved — so
did the girl’s. Finally, the doll was stood up and, to audible gasps, so was the
volunteer. The spirit of “Emily” was present, and she and Paul received
rapturous applause — as did all the performers.
The show wasn’t without its technical hitches: an unplanned second interval
occurred after a stage set mix-up, and audience members onstage would have
benefited from microphones. But these were small niggles — overall, a great
show, which returns in December.
© John Walker, October 2025