Is magic the new rock 'n' roll? David Blaine up a pole in New York, the Top 50 tricks on C4? There are currently enough conjurors on the comedy circuit to sustain a sextet of shows in Highgate. Nightly host John Lenahan is arguably the godfather of alternative magic. This garrulous Philadelphian was banished from the Magic Circle for exposing trade secrets. In Lenahan's brave new world, Tommy Cooper rules and Paul Daniels is still irritating.
Compared to Marc Salem's current West End vehicle, the sorcery here is strictly functional, a Mondeo to Salem's Mercedes. Or David Copperfield's stretch limo. But however often a rope is sliced, diced and reassembled, it still seems like witchcraft. Even when Lenahan playfully reveals the sleight of hand that enables him to make cards vanish, one applauds his dexterity.
The Monday bill was completed by Mandy Muden's brassy patter and suggestive
cucumbers, the well-oiled magic/ ventriloquism of Paul Zerdin and stand-up Ian Stone, whose most remarkable trick was extracting humour from his grandmother's Alzheimer's disease. But Lenahan upstaged everyone with his deceptively simple wizard wheezes. His transfixing close-up table magic during the interval may even stop you getting to the bar. Undoubtedly crowd-pleasing, probably not brewery-pleasing.
John Lenahan's Monday Night Magic
