While inspired by the film franchise, Now You See Me Live bears little resemblance to the movies. Instead, it’s an excuse for a two-hour magic and escapology show. All the acts are slick and are accompanied by flashing lights and dramatic music. However, to the detractors, it’s all done with smoke and mirrors and mathematics.
Initially, like the movies, it does seem as if the magicians are going to pull off a heist, and Rafferty Coope, who was a contestant in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent, asks the audience for suggestions. Which city will it take place in? What will be the escape vehicle? And how much will they steal? Of course, at each performance the answers will change, but it appears Coope already knows what the audience’s responses will be. It’s just a shame that, when the answers appear on paper, they seem so freshly scrawled by someone backstage. It’s not the greatest of starts, and the heist is then forgotten about completely.
After that, the results are better. There are plenty of card tricks, which, for those at the back of the Coliseum, are filmed live and projected on a giant screen. French Enzo Weyne and South African Gabriella Lester excel at disappearing acts and misdirection while Italian Andrew Basso adds jeopardy to his sections where he must escape from handcuffs and padlocks, although only one trick seems especially dangerous.
The best of the bunch is Eden Choi from South Korea, another Britain’s Got Talent alumnus. His sleight of hand is incredible to behold. He magics up scores of playing cards out of thin air, scattering them on the floor in superfast flicks. There seems to be no trickery here, but instead great skill, something that he must have practised for years. In comparison, the piece by Fraser Penman, yet another act from BGT, is a little lacklustre and easily solved.
Hosted by Matthew Pomeroy, who resembles Gareth Malone so much that it’s reassuring, the 120 minutes go by quickly, but there is something corporate about the show (thin programmes are £10 and the show is co-produced by Lionsgate). And magic tricks work better when there are different acts – singers or comedians, say – on either side. But the children in the audience love it, raising their arms aloft in the hope they will be selected next to go and help on stage. So, it’s good family fun, but the team should be aware that not every adult in the show is heterosexual.
Runs until 6 September 2026
