Impossible keeps the realm of magic in a land far, far, away, where men are clever, funny and brave, and women are visually appealing, acquiescent and above all - mute.
When thinking about the magic show as a type of entertainment, two distinct images come to mind: either one is transported back to the golden age of magic – the Victorian era of stunt-man Houdini, of spectacle, spiritualism and the supernatural; or one thinks of the tired, Saturday-night-family-telly format of the 1970’s – and all the casual racism and cringing sexism that attended it.
One image offers a tingle of anticipation, a twist toward the unexpected, while the other whiffs of middle-aged white men with a repartee of bad jokes that chafed worse than their polyester suits. This show frustratingly conjures up elements of the promise and disappointment contained in both of these images.
Under the pretext of outlining a brief history of magic - with examples - we are introduced to a few main characters. Jonathan Goodwin is the dare-devil hero who risks his life for our entertainment. Occasionally stripped to the waist, he bends spanners with his teeth and bravely bears being hung upside down in a strait-jacket, doused in petrol and set fire to. Chris Cox - a self-confessed Sue Perkins looky-likey – also confesses to not being a mind-reader, but does it anyway while keeping up an impressive and amusing banter with the audience-volunteers. Ben Hart is able to don an air of old-fashioned mystery, as he steps into the past to bring us magic that is tinged with a bit of creepy. Lee Thompson pick-pockets hapless audience members, uncomfortably invading their personal space and making them look foolish, while prattling on with the predictable patter.
At the end of the show comes Magical Bones, a hip-hop magician from Peckham, South London. Whether you consider the acts up to this point to be good, bad or indifferent (and they are all three), what is guaranteed is that all of it is a variation of the nothing-new. Mr Bones is different. His final card trick, set to a made-to-measure hip-hop track, is the highlight of the show. Perhaps because we are finally introduced to something we haven’t seen before.
What we have all seen before are women in the guise of the glamorous assistant – and there are a number of those this evening. There is only one female magician in the show. She appears only briefly and is the only magician tonight who doesn’t speak a word. Nor does her name appear on the list of performers that is handed to me with my ticket. It would seem that women, if let in to the world of magic, are involved in a very particular kind of disappearing act – one that allows you to look back and wonder if they were actually there at all.
The verdict is, that magic land needs to wake up, look around, and drag itself into the 21st Century – by all means hold onto the Victorian roots, but for pity’s sake let go of the 1970s.
Runs 15th – 19th March 2016