Stage: Embracing childlike wonder

Jamie Allan’s
Amaze
created by Jamie Allan, Tommy Bond
director Jonathan Goodwin • music Tommy Bond
Marylebone Theatre, London • 25.Jul-24.Aug.24 ★★★★

Refreshingly old-school, Jamie Allan's magic may not feel particularly new, but he performs a series of mind-boggling tricks with a wonderful personal touch that continually catches us by surprise. Structuring the show as a memoir about his childhood, Allan pulls us in from the start, then proceeds to perform a series of illusions that seem frankly impossible. Even if we've seen them before, Allan's intimate style and earthy approach make each of them, yes, amazing.

Whether he's performing astonishing sleight-of-hand or whizzy card tricks, Allan maintains a disarming demeanour that's thoroughly charming. And he has a special connection to those of us in the audience who dabbled with toy magic sets as youngsters, enjoying the reactions we elicited from our friends and family members who weren't in on the secrets. He has a lot of fun with 1980s references throughout the show, including video clips, songs and movie references. And he also cleverly uses key toys like a Rubik's Cube and Fisher-Price's Magic Show to create new illusions.

Assisted by stage manager Natalia Love, who carries a camera that allows the audience to see everything up-close, Allan joyfully dives into the nostalgia of his act, including the old books he read for inspiration as a child, such as Reginald Scott's 1584 debunking exposé Discovery of Witchcraft, the first book about the trickery of magical illusions. Allan's central idea is that we all have moments that linger and people who provide pivotal elements in our lives. So he recounts engaging stories about his parents, mentors and others who have inspired him.

Even if some of these tricks feel almost startlingly simple, such as restoring a torn-up newspaper or a broken length of glowing thread, they are performed with such a terrific sense of childlike wonder that we can't help but feel the same way as when we first saw them performed. And we still have no idea how he does it. It's particularly entertaining to see all of this in such an intimate venue, including his trademark iPad illusion, which has a beautiful lyricism to it. Then there's his climactic card trick, which has been passed down between magicians for centuries. As a demonstration of sheer skill, it's jaw-dropping.

For details, AMAZE MAGIC >

photos by Clare Nordbruch • 31.Jul.24