★★★½
About fifteen minutes into the opening night of the Adults Only Magic Show, a man named David was holding a sex doll like a wounded lover, shortly followed by Justin Williams staring lovingly into his soul with the intensity of a man trying to reverse-mortgage his dignity.
Somewhere nearby, Sam Hume was keeping the whole thing moving with the confidence of someone who knows this is exactly the sort of nonsense people paid to see.
That, really, is the joy of this show. It does not ease you in; it grabs the most unsuspecting person in the front row, hands him a plastic companion, and says, “Good luck, mate.”
Returning to South-East Queensland for the first time in nearly four years, Hume and Williams bring the Adults Only Magic Show to the Augathella Spiegeltent after last appearing in the region at The Tivoli, a show I also attended. And while last night’s performance was almost identical in structure, albeit cut down into a tight 70-minute Fringe version, it never felt like a lazy repeat.
That is the joy of this particular brand of chaos. The tricks may be familiar, but the room is not. The audience changes everything, and on opening night, Wynnum very much came to play.
The show is hosted by its two original creators, with assistance from their own little naughty Easter Bunny, Richard Sullivan, who pops in and out of the madness like someone who took a wrong turn at Wonderland and ended up at a Magic Mike show.
Together, they lean into exactly what this show promises: magic for grown-ups who are happy to leave their sense and sensibility at the door.
For anyone expecting polished Vegas glamour, this isn’t that. This is magic with its shirt half-unbuttoned, making inappropriate eye contact from across the room. Cards are pulled from skin-tight leopard print G-strings, audience members are dragged into deeply questionable situations, and every reveal comes wrapped in innuendo, mischief and the occasional full-body cringe.
But underneath the smut, the magic itself is properly good. Hume and Williams know how to work a crowd, build suspense and land a reveal. You’re laughing one second, then genuinely wondering how the hell they pulled something off the next.
Of course, every performance needs a victim, and last night that honour went to poor David in the front row. Although, to be fair, I’m fairly sure he was loving every second of it.
David spent half the night cuddling a sex doll, having uncomfortably intimate staring competitions with Justin and copping the rude end of a lot of comedy gold. It takes a very specific kind of audience member to become part of the show without derailing it, and David, whether willingly or through sheer survival instinct, became one of the night’s accidental stars.
Justin Williams remains a master of making discomfort funny. His ability to lock eyes with someone for just a little too long, stretch a pause past the point of social acceptability and somehow make the whole tent lose it is a skill.
Sam Hume balances him beautifully, bringing charm, pace and just enough control to keep the show from spiralling completely off the rails, even when it very clearly wants to.
Not every joke is subtle, but let’s be real – subtlety is not why anyone buys a ticket to the Adults Only Magic Show. Some gags are clever, some are proudly juvenile, and a few are so stupid you almost resent yourself for laughing. But laugh I did, often and loudly.
Adults Only Magic Show is rude, slick, chaotic and a little bit wrong in all the right ways. Even having seen much of the routine before, I still found myself completely entertained. It is proof that good magic is only half the trick.
The real fun comes from the people in the room, the poor soul in the front row, and two performers who know exactly how far to push things before pulling the rabbit, or in this case, something much less family-friendly, out of the hat.
Adults Only Magic Show runs to 11 July as part of Wynnum Fringe. Augathella Spiegeltent, 166 Bay Terrace, Wynnum QLD 4178.
Tickets are available here!
Website: https://wynnumfringe.com/adults-only-magic-show/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/wynnumfringe/
Images supplied.
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