EDINBURGH 2016: BWW Q&A - Doug Segal

BWW speaks to Doug Segal ahead of his Edinburgh Fringe 2016 show I Can Make You Feel Good.

What can you tell us about I Can Make You Feel Good?

I'm trying to make "The Feel Good Hit of The Summer". The show is a combination of mind tricks, comedy and the science of happiness. The objective is to make everyone in the room happier using any & all tools at our disposal.

How concerned do I need to be about the level of audience participation?

Not remotely. It's a show designed to people feel good - not feel uncomfortable. Obviously there is audience participation but it's all stuff you'd love to be part of: For example one audience member predicts the Lottery live in real time and another learns how to telepathically guess another spectator's phone number.

Your press release states that you are not a magician, clairvoyant or hypnotist- how would you define your act?

Nothing I do is spooky or psychic. Everything I do is achieved using one of more of the following skills from my background in Psychology & Advertising: I use Statistics, Persuasion Techniques, Subliminal Influence and I couple that with two, key, advertising skills of Cheating & Lying.

Has it ever gone wrong?

Absolutely. If I was a magician I could rehearse day after day (probably alone. In my parents' basement. Surrounded by empty Dorito packets. Emitting an aura of loneliness and social ineptitude) until it couldn't possible go wrong. But I'm not. So occasionally it does. The thing is only I know what's supposed to happen and all of the mind tricks are designed to have a "back up effect" in the unlikely event that the intended result doesn't happen. I would say something goes not entirely to plan in maybe one in fifty shows but no one but me would notice in forty-nine out of each fifty times it happens.

Who would you recommend your show to?

Anyone who wants to feel happier. If you like either funny things, spectacular things or uplifting things you'll like my thing.

Timings and ticket information for I Can Make You Feel Good are available on the edfringe website.