Performance Review: An ENIGMA (Live)

details of the tricks, to prevent spoiling events for future attendees. This is understandable but it does reveal that the same techniques are used each night and that there is less 'magic' and more 'misdirection' than you would maybe suspect on the night. I felt confident that just by attending for a second night would reveal a lot of the secrets, when you saw similar things being forced to happen. For this reason I am keen to watch the DVD when it is released but wouldn't dream of potentially spoiling the night for others. What I love about Derren is he has a rare combination of being an exceptional performer and a very talented magician. His acting is as impressive as his tricks and he is able to sell things brilliantly. If you have not seen any of his shows before then you are in for an evening like no other. There is an almost child like fascination in watching him and trying to figure out how he is managing to pull off what seems impossible. Unfortunately, watching 'Enigma' felt like viewing a lot of his previous shows. There wasn't anything particularly new or unique. As massively impressive as the tricks are, we have seen the majority of them all before in other shows. Things like asking audience members to choose a picture from twenty or so and then reading their directions through a hand placed on his shoulder work well but are based on things he has revealed before. If you have not seen one of his shows before I imagine you would have been blown away. If you have seen other shows I imagine you will love it at the time but on looking back on the following days things will not seem as incredible as they did at the time and some of the methods will start to come to you if you think about it enough. Having said that Derren is on stage for 3 full hours (less a 20 minute interval) so you tend to find your recollections of EXACTLY what happened, and in what order, is not totally reliable. This is something Derren expands on in his book 'Trick of the Mind'. When you, the viewer, retell what happened you tend to forget important details (unintentionally) and the retold events are much more incredible than the actual events. The show is in two halves. They are fairly even in length although the first contains more trickery with the second being more about spirits and the afterlife, with a finale which reveals where the 'Enigma' name for the show came from. The final part of the show is usually exceptional although this time I found it to be a little over complicated and you had to keep trying to remember how everything came to be where it was. I think it will definitely become clearer on repeat viewings but is maybe too clever for the live audience. There is no warm up act and Derren is straight on the stage at the advertised time so ensure you are in your seat in plenty of time (7.30pm ish). The show is excellent value for money. Two tickets cost around £73 (including all the additional fees) and as mentioned previously it lasts three hours. People in the front two rows have a good chance of being selected but anyone in the theatre can be chosen. Derren uses Frisbees to ensure random people are chosen and he is able to find all levels of seats with these Frisbees. Some people have claimed that the people chosen are planted. If you believe Derren can hit multiple people 100 metres away with a Frisbee I would suggest that is more impressive than anything you will see on stage. I am certain that all people chosen were just normal attendees. Derren does attempt to induce the entire audience into a trance like state in the second half. He is clear that he will be doing this and suggests that anyone who strongly objects, does not return after the interval (no refunds though!). You also have the option of opting out of this part whilst watching the rest of the show (by blocking your ears) so there is nothing to worry about. The only disappointment for me was when Derren explained how he did one of his tricks. To my mind his explanation seemed very unlikely. I would rather he kept his secrets to himself or revealed genuine methods. Revealing methods which are not genuine just turns me off the act. The best example of this was the ridiculous method he gave for predicting the National Lottery numbers. I would recommend this show to anyone. Go with an open mind and you will be blown away. I just hope Derren introduces something a bit more original and different for his next live show. I would be happy to discuss the show on private message with anyone else who has attended but as mentioned above, I won't reveal anything if you have not been.