The Stage

Chris Dugdale - An Evening of Magic and Mindreading

Published Friday 3 September 2010 at 15:57 by Alistair Smith

Chris Dugdale is a fine sleight of hand magician - really superb.

His show, returning to the Riverside Studios in a slightly more polished form to the one which debuted there in 2009, is a mixture of this close-up magic and the kind of mentalism and mind-reading which has become popular since Derren Brown shot to prominence.

The first half, much of which takes place at a table with a live feed video camera above so that the audience can watch Dugdale close up, focuses on sleight of hand tricks with cards, coins, rings and rope and features some genuinely jaw-dropping moments.

His performance is given a bit of extra oomph by some nice theatrical touches and frequent (perhaps a little too frequent) use of video by director Tony Middleton - Dugdale’s disguised entrance is a wonderful coup de theatre, even if it slightly fails as magic trick.

As a performer, he has charisma to spare. There’s a nice swagger, a certain boy next door charm, to his on-stage persona which serves him well when he’s fooling audience members. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work so well in the mind-reading sections of the act, when he takes on a more serious tone that clashes with the persona he’s built up before. Dugdale is no Derren Brown - he’s not odd enough - and should focus on playing to his strengths.

If he is going to shift to larger venues, there is a lack of balance between these two halves of his act which needs to be addressed. But, with some work on the script, this shouldn’t be an insurmountable task. Dugdale is certainly a talented performer and, more importantly, has a natural rapport with an audience.