New Yorker Reuben Moreland’s first solo comedy/magic show proves both very funny and full of complex stunts and gags that you’ll be puzzling over for ages.
Taking to the stage at The Roundabout in what looked like a blue shower curtain, Reuben (much-adored by Penn & Teller, no less) was quick to get into jokes that alternated between the ‘meta’, the crude and the anxiety-inducing. An early set-up involving a supposed mind-reading helmet was amusing but obviously un-magical, and yet when the proper tricks then started coming, some of them were truly astonishing.
There was a nice bit of audience participation and an apology to a 12-year-old punter for the coarse language, but the real showstoppers involved Reuben’s extraordinary sleight-of-hand with playing cards. Indeed, a seemingly goofy bit of business about a pickle jar later elaborately turns into one of the best and most perplexing bits of ‘magic’ that I’ve seen for years. And years.
All a bit hard to discuss much further without breaking the spell, this is one of the real surprises of the Adelaide Fringe 2024, so make sure you get along and catch it. And please, watch out for Seth Leopold!!!
“Abracadabra, B*tch!”
until Sunday 17th of March
The Roundabout, Fool’s Paradise
