An intriguing and magical performance
We’re all dreamers, so we’re told by James Phelan, and in this sold-out show he demonstrated the power of our imaginations, and the power of dreams.
Having been told as a young child he would never make it as a magician, he took his through stories of his past, with the associated magic tricks – the first one he learned at 2.5 years old, and one he showcased in an interview for a marketing role.
From the beginning, the audience were rapt as James could not only guess cards picked by audience members, but also described the fascinating underlying psychology, about why people tend to pick the cards that they do. I have no doubt that attendees will be trying this on friends and family, showing off that new-found knowledge at parties to come. Neatly balancing crowdwork with few audience members (and a keen eye to spot those with a lesser imagination, shall we say) with elements that the whole crowd can enjoy, and engagement was very high.
Today’s show was the first of the run, so naturally there are some refinements to the use of space in the venue. The Beauty is circular, with a raised stage, and it might have added some fluidity to the performance if crowd members were brought onto the stage as quite a lot of James’ time seemed to be spent running back and forth between 6 people on the floor, and this would have improved the view point for many in the audience too. There was also a slightly awkward moment when geeing up the crowd at the start which was very gender-split, and it would have been more inclusive to continue splitting the cheering by location.
This is not to detract from what was, overall, an informative as well as entertaining experience and a great time for those looking to understand the power of imagination as well as those who just enjoy being stunned by some well performed and seemingly inexplicable magic.
Went to see James in his 2025 Edinburgh Fringe show – the man who was magic.
It was probably the worst most poorly prepared show I have ever seen.
None of if the tricks worked he seemed to have no clear idea what was next, he had a hand held microphone and needed two hands at some stages so had to just shout, one of the tricks involved switching off all the lights then switching on again – only problem was we saw him running round.
Absolute disgrace!!