'In this way I shall preserve many things that would otherwise be lost in oblivion. I shall find daily employment for myself, which will save me from indolence and help to keep off the spleen, and I shall lay up a store of entertainment for my after life.'

For James Boswell posts please follow the labels on the right.

This blog mainly contains reviews from the Edinburgh Festivals from 2008 to 2010 which I wrote for the Edinburgh Festivals Magazine. These reviews cover everything from comedy to contemporary dance; children's theatre to Handel.


Tuesday 25 October 2011

Pete Firman: Jokes and Tricks Review

Pete Firman: Jokes and Tricks

The post-performance verdict, from one audience member fresh out of Firman’s show was ‘rubbish – but in a good way’. Indeed Firman’s humour, his magic and props all suggest the man doesn’t read signals about taste and style quite as well as the rest of us. There is certainly more than a suggestion of the 80s in the show, and Firman is more likely to be found reading tomes about magic history than GQ magazine.  

Like a street performer who has just made it past the bouncers at the Pleasance Dome, Firman has a rapid fire approach to jokes, and teases the crowd by drawing out his routines. None of this is necessarily a bad thing, and the cocktail of self-deprecating humour and polished magic is a good one.

Firman also has two very impressive stunts, one which could come straight out of a Derren Brown mind trick performance, the other involving a gun. Unlike Brown or David Blaine, however, Firman, has no need for scary lighting, dramatic music and is incapable (such is his face) of looking even slightly serious. Instead, he takes a refreshingly blasé approach to his stunts, and conducts them in a polished and off the cuff manner. 

Firman is as quick with his jokes as he is with his hands. Good solid entertainment.

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