Review: STUART MICHAEL - THE PSYCHIC MEDIUM, Wonderville

When Stuart Michael was a toddler, he kept talking about wartime Germany. There are many reports of children coming up with vivid stories of alleged past lives, conjuring up places, people, events that they couldn’t possibly have known about. It’s all very interesting, but, like for every area of pseudoscience, there is no way to confirm the validity of these incidents. A “psychic” can be a lot of things: from clairvoyants to mediums all the way to stage magicians. Charlatanerie is widespread. Michael is said to boast celebrity clients and a mind’s eye he was taught to use since childhood by a neighbour who was also a psychic. The blurb of the show says that “Stuart will find you if he has a message for you!” Ominous. And slightly threatening.

All in all, the evening is like a mediumship group session with No Guarantees of being called out or receiving answers. Believers will believe, sceptics won’t. Without going into Michael’s abilities - which, of course, we can't for a fact confirm or debunk - the two hours are, regrettably, quite dull. He jumps straight in between tongue-in-cheek jokes and an entertainer’s spirit. A tense silence falls onto the audience as he starts pacing around, trying to “pick up” some “energy”. He is respectful and kind, almost apologetic for his intrusions into people’s personal lives as he glances into nothingness, pulling information out of thin air.

Some of the details are extremely specific. From a grandad's colostomy bag to a deceased relative’s appearance, it’s rather fascinating, but it doesn’t yet have the requisites to be a solid production. We’d guess one would attend yearning to be chosen to receive a message from the dead, but Michael doesn’t quench the morbid interest that surrounds his job. We don’t get a backstory or any kind of framing, so his method becomes an unexplained curiosity. He struts around, deep in thought or cracking a smooth joke or two, while the crowd watches on. It’s intriguing to see it happen live in front of you, but it’s nothing to call home about (unless you need to delve into your family history to unearth some sort of secret he's hinted at).

It might all be a game of chances or be for real, but one thing is certain: everybody's interpretation of the dreams he analysed would be the very same as his. It’s not difficult to understand why you’re on the outside looking in while everybody’s having fun or why you keep going back to a place where you were happy. Now, family members coming through from the spirit world are a different story. All in all, we perhaps expected a little more as it's not the mystic experience it could be.

Stuart Michael is touring the UK in the autumn.