Impossible review: A fantastic night out for all the family

Having been brought up on Paul Daniels and David Copperfield, I eagerly awaited my first live magic experience. Taken on an incredulous journey ‘now I’m a believer’!

A line up of magicians from every genre gather on the same stage, introduce themselves in a cheesy ‘Vegas’ style, teasing what all their individual talents entail. Using the premise of showing a young boy what magic is really about the collective take turns to show us their skills. Danger, excitement, humour and thrills are promised and delivered, I spent the evening with my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish in awe of what was before me.

Jonathan Goodwin, ‘Daredevil and Escapologist’ set the bar high by escaping a straight-jacket whilst upside down… and on fire! I think I stopped breathing for a moment, incredible. Goodwin had fantastic understated charisma and his feats of lying on a nail, (singular – ouch!) and shooting balloons out of his wife’s mouth and then blindfolded from the top of her head were prodigious. Just as you thought you couldn’t be more impressed, there’s a twist to complete the stunt that just blows you away.

Ben Hart is a young and stylish magician with real star quality, this man was born to perform. His traditional sleight­-of­-hand magic although not as glamorous as his colleagues, was charming in its familiarity. Hart’s ease and grace with the public make his interactive tricks entertaining and enjoyable.

Luis De Matos had similar traditional tricks but on a larger and grander scale, a real showman, the embodiment of Copperfield. De Matos creates audience participation at its best. A card trick involving the whole theatre which involved tearing up paper, passing it around, shuffling it and throwing it in the air with immense fun and humour. The result was incredible and one of the many times throughout the evening where you are left completely baffled but incredibly impressed.

Light relief is provided by the delightful and provocative talents of Chris Cox. His enthusiasm is boundless and his act is very enjoyable. Cox underplays his skills claiming to be the ‘mind reader that can’t read minds’. Whatever methods he uses he gets results. A funnier version of Derren Brown, Cox doesn’t take himself seriously as he studies the body language of audience members to distinguish their thoughts. A cross between ‘Where’s Wally’ and self-proclaimed Sue Perkins lookalike Cox is fun to watch.

Damien O’Brien appeared in the opening introduction, but did not perform and sadly the only advertised female magician Katherine Mills has had to pull out of the show, but the ladies are well represented through their support of this spectacle. Their presence is particularly important with the ‘Big Guns’. The utterly astonishing stunts performed by Jamie Allan and Ali Cook are show stoppers and if I watched them a thousand times I would never figure out how they did it. The ladies are participants in the most famous of ‘tricks’ with a twist of modernisation. They are not only traditionally impaled by fiery swords and metal plates but also cut in half with laser beams and levitated by Jamie Allan and with Ali Cook transported, made to disappear and be complicit in a 21st century tribute to Houdini’s famous water escape that will leave you bewildered and stunned.

Disappearing cars, a laser show worthy of a rock concert, pretty girls and incredulous feats. This ensemble bring the sexy back to Magic. Kudos to the lighting and tech teams this is a show that can hardly be contained by the venue it is so huge. Give them your imaginations and these guys will show you the unbelievable. A fantastic night out for all the family that you will be talking about and trying to understand for days afterwards.

Review by Rachel Borland

IMPOSSIBLE, the biggest magic show in decades is set to thrill audiences in London’s West End this summer at the Noël Coward Theatre. The show will feature the very best magicians and tricksters from around the world, fusing dazzling grand stage illusions, up-close-and-personal magic, cutting-edge technological tricks and death-defying escapology in a fast-paced, breath-taking spectacular for every generation.

Celebrating its global premiere this July in London, where Harry Houdini and the superstars of illusion stunned Victorian audiences on stage, IMPOSSIBLE will re-establish the UK capital as the epicentre of innovation and spectacle, hosting the greatest magic show on Earth. Directed by Anthony Owen, the multi-award winning producer and magic consultant behind Channel 4’s Derren Brown, IMPOSSIBLE brings eight world-leading performers together live on-stage for the very first time. Featuring a stunning range of magical artistry, from astonishing acts of epic proportions to dumbfounding up-close sleight of hand, be ready to be mesmerized and baffled by these incredible illusionists.
Nothing is quite as it seems…

Listing:
Impossible
Noel Coward Theatre
Show Opened: 24th July 2015
Booking Until: 29th August 2015
Important Info:
Latecomers may not be permitted until a suitable break in the performance.
Evenings: Monday to Saturday 7.30pm
Matinees: Tuesday and Saturday 3.00pm
@ImpossibleShow

Saturday 1st August 2015