Reviewed Wednesday 12th March 2014
That simple title,
Tony Roberts - Card Magic, belies the enormous amount of entertainment packed into this performance. This is not the first time that Roberts has performed at the Adelaide Fringe. I had the pleasure of being nicely baffled at
Shuffle Me Straight, a past show which ended with an illusion of that name in which, after much shuffling and cutting, the deck was spread out across the table to reveal every card in order His card tricks were presented in conjunction with hilarious patter, and even a couple of songs in which Roberts accompanied himself on guitar.
This time the focus is completely on the card manipulation and the comical monologue, resulting in a somewhat snappier production. With audience volunteers, a seasoned card player and a non-player, seated either side of his table, and a video camera pointed down at the cards and projected onto a large screen so that the entire audience could see as well as if they, too, were seated next to him, scrutiny of his every move was intense.
Needless to say that, in spite of every little detail clearly visible, the entire audience was completely baffled and in awe as one seemingly impossible trick followed another, becoming more and more complicated with each one. It was an evening of sharp intakes of breath, expressions of total amazement, and huge rounds of applause.
Added to this was the continuous stream of extremely funny stories and comments accompanying the magic, which had everybody in fits of laughter from start to finish. Some of the patter got a little risqué, but Roberts does it in such a cheeky way that even your maiden aunt would not take offence. he is an all round consummate professional such as you'd expect to find performing in the big Las Vegas shows, although they'd probably ban him from the gaming rooms.
Card magic doesn't get any better than this but, remember, you get two shows for the price of one, as the comedy could just as easily stand on its own. There are only a few more performances left as the Fringe ends on Sunday, so rush to get tickets.
