Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013 – REVIEW – Chris Dugdale – Magic and Mischief! ****

Chris Dugdale – Magic and Mischief!, Assembly George Square 7:30pm, until 26 Aug, £12/11 (£11/10 concessions)

From the moment Chris Dugdale walked onto stage with his professional and relaxed demeanour, there was a reassurance that the audience were in good hands and in for a treat. This enthusiastic magician has created a show for all age groups, with those at his second preview show of this year’s Fringe thoroughly engaged with his well-practiced and well-paced material.

Implementing audience participation into a show of any nature is  a daunting prospect for a performer, but Dugdale looked at home on the stage, conversing with his chosen assistants and the audience as a whole, as if he had known them for years, making it look so easy!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaX_VzBYupE]

He certainly does not lack confidence, presumably as a result of ‘living for his profession’, and this confidence only grew during the show.

There may not have been an absolutely astounding ‘wow’ moment which larger budgets and venues can generally accommodate (a search for Dugdale’s performance on ITV’s ‘Penn and Teller: Fool Us’ demonstrates what is meant by this) but ‘Magic and Mischief’ provides exactly what it promises – tricks that truly makes you wonder how they are achieved, enveloped in a solid, satisfying show.