Home Counties Magical Society

Well over one hundred people attended New Greenham Arts, Newbury, on Thursday 7^th September to see Robert Bone’s full evening one man show of mental magic which he entitled A Demonstration of Extra-Sensory Curiosities.

The audience sat mostly at tables, cabaret style, while Rob performed on stage.  Drinking was encouraged and the lay-out led to a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere that facilitated audience participation which was a feature of the show.

For someone of my generation Rob’s appearance and personality reminded me of David Nixon.  Very tall, gentle, and likeable who treated his audience volunteers with kindness and respect.  Not that many in the audience would remember David Nixon as most were of the younger adult generation which augers well for magic , although I suspect that if the show had been billed as An Evening of Magic fewer would have turned up!

The magic, or demonstration of extra-sensory curiosities as Rob would have it, consisted of a range of mentalist effects, mostly well known to today’s magicians but very well presented with sustained light-hearted patter which made for great entertainment without being overly serious which can occur in mentalist performances.  Cards selected at random were correctly predicted and revealed in numerous ways.  Drawings prepared by audience members on pieces of card and concealed in envelopes were predicted a’la Pseudo Psychometry.  An excellent four book test had the audience amazed.

During the interval the audience were invited to write questions on pieces of card, conceal them in envelopes and post them into a box on the stage.  This was in preparation for the opening of the second half in which Rob predicted the questions, provided the answers and generally demonstrated his psychic knowledge of quite a few audience members much to their amazement.  Another highlight was a blindfold effect using coins on the eyes secured with gaffer tape.

Just when we thought the show was over Rob revealed that many of the random selections which had occurred during his show had, in fact, been predicted by him before the evening had even begun, indeed weeks before in his flyer, copies of which had been placed on the tables before the show commenced.  This was a suitably baffling climax and caused the audience to depart with much to ponder.

Overall, the show was reminiscent of those given by Derren Brown, but nonetheless mystifying and entertaining.  The muggles I sat next to, who had no idea of who I was, nicely summed up the evening when replying to my question about what they thought of the show by saying “It was amazing”.

Brian Dodridge