Pete Firman
-
Hokum
Underbelly Productions
Underbelly @ 19:00, Aug 2-26 (not 14), (55mins), £9.50 (£8.00),
£10.50 (£9.00)
****
I
don’t trust Pete Firman. For magicians it is a stock in trade
to tease an audience into thinking something dark, menacing or unfortunate
has occurred before finally putting everything right and revealing that
it’s all ok. But Firman, I’m not so sure about, and besides,
he looks a bit shifty.
Pete Firman is one of the leading lights of a new breed of well known
magicians. They tend to be quirkier, funnier and often somewhat darker
than their predecessors. These traits possibly being the product of
that evolutionary step magicians were forced to go through in order
to regain attention from the masses, it became survival of the fittest
and a certain strain won through.
The classic ingredients are still very well received and appreciated
by the modern audience. We like to see a card trick, love a bit of linking
rings, mind reading prediction type malarkey – it’s all
good. But for some reason we do tend to demand something a little more
macabre from our conjurors these days, and in that respect Firman doesn’t
disappoint. There are a couple of times we see blood during this show,
and not all of it is his own. Obviously none of it is even real blood,
this is a magic show, but it’s nice to think in these terms.
He’s a real crowd pleaser, gets those present involved at every
opportunity, and has superb comedy patter to carry it all along. His
magical skill and prestidigitation is also wonderfully competent, although
it’s a bit of a shame the White Belly room doesn’t offer
the audience the best eyelines for the show. An hour with Firman is
a fantastic ride, made all the more intriguing by his scrubbed up seventies
scarecrow image. He certainly did worry a few birds while I was there!!
Magic’s not for everyone, but I’ll bet that if you’re
not keen, Firman could turn you. He had us eating out of the palm of
his hand and left us begging for more… But I still don’t
trust him.
by
Ian Phillips
The
National Student's
2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
coverage is supported by
