Review: NOW YOU SEE ME at Crown Theatre

There's lots to see in Perth at the moment, and a different kind of spectacle is proving that big-budget showmanship still has a place in the Perth summer. NOW YOU SEE ME LIVE takes the "magician-vigilante" DNA of the films and strips away the CGI, replacing it with something far more impressive: actual, world-class technical skill with a little bit of humour.

You really have to hand it to the stage's "Four Horsemen." They aren't just doing tricks; they are master instructors in the art of misdirection. The pacing is relentless, and the charisma levels are off the charts, which is exactly what you need to sell illusions of this scale. The highlight for many will be Andrew Basso’s recreation of Houdini’s water tank escape. Even in a room of 2,500 people, you could have heard a pin drop as he held his breath for over two minutes while picking locks. It’s high-stakes, nerve-jangling, and a reminder that live performance carries a risk that film simply can't replicate. On the other end of the spectrum, Pablo Cánovas brings a level of sleight-of-hand mastery that is almost poetic—his "Golden Magician" reputation is well-earned.

The production value is exactly what you’d expect for such a grand show. It’s slick, it’s loud, and it uses technology in a way that feels modern rather than gimmicky. I particularly enjoyed the "communal card trick" in the first act; it’s a brilliant bit of crowd management that gets everyone involved and proves that, sometimes, the simplest illusions are the most effective. The link to the movie franchise is a bit of a loose thread—there may not be that much for fans of the movie—but that's very easy to overlook with such production value.

Whilst the four performers keep you amazed for an entire two hours, they also manage to keep you entertained. Illussions and tricks can seem bland after a while and run the risk of losing their gasp factor, which is something NOW YOU SEE ME LIVE guards against by being all round entertaining. There's genuinely funny jokes, brilliant audience work, and a good mix of simple and showy tricks to keep you guessing. NOW YOU SEE ME LIVE is amazing, polished, professional, and a great deal of fun.

NOW YOU SEE ME LIVE is at Crown Theatre until February 1. Tickets from Ticketmaster.

More information available from NOW YOU SEE ME LIVE.