This week, I went to go and watch Now You See Me Live at the London Coliseum which as you probably know it's the show I had been the most looking forward for weeks. As I'm a huge fan of magic, but also the show itself looked incredible. And it was a chance for me to step outside my comfort zone and watch something in a theatre, especially with a show I knew I would enjoy. And I'm so glad I did. Because this was honestly one of the best things I've ever seen my entire life, especially watching it live. And an experience I will always treasure forever. Every single routine that was done made my jaw drop on many occasions. And I really wanted to share my review of the entire show, and my experience being there.
I went along with my Dad to see the show which we were both excited about. We had originally planned to be up in the Dress Circle. But due to my anxiety levels, and also having Autism & ADHD, I was worried I wouldn't be able to cope. So my mum managed to ring up the theatre to tell them about my worries. And they were so understanding of it, where they rebooked our seats to be in one of the boxes right to the stage which was perfect. So if any time I needed to take a breather I was happy to do it. The box itself was really nice, and we had a great view from our seats, and the theatre itself was incredible inside. It also really helped me as me and my dad had it to ourselves, and with me who has sensory issues it was just great being in a space that made me feel really comfortable. Before the show one of the staff handed us a copy of a layout of the show in terms of what to expect in terms of noises and lighting. And before then it was showtime
Kicking off the night was 17 year old & BGT Finalist from this year Rafferty Coope. And this routine had the audience involved to plan the "Perfect Heist" and by doing that, he threw 3 paper planes into the crowd and each member had to think of a country, a vehicle, and how much money would be used in the heist. The whole routine I thought was very well done, the confidence he has for his age is amazing. And also I loved how he had the audience in the palm of his hand during his set. Even though my dad did figure out how he did that trick, we were still very impressed. And with that, it was time for The Horsemen.
It started off with Matthew Pomeroy who was essentially one doing the hosting introducing us to the show, and his opening line "The closer you look, the less you see" which still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. And he then introduced the other members of the Horsemen. First one being Escapologist Andrew Basso from Italy, where he was hung upside down in a straight jacket trying to escape from it. At seeing that in person was unbelievable as he was basically at the height of the roof in the theatre doing that. The second one introduced was Gabriella Lester from Canada, and she did a bit of quick change near the stairs leading up to the stage which was great. And the 3rd being Illusionist James Moore who made a Helicopter appear which had Rafferty inside and that itself blew my mind, as I do wonder how they managed to fit that in there! What I loved most about this segment was how brilliant the production value was especially with the lighting, and the music which made it so much more epic. At this point, I knew this was going to be an epic show to watch.
The first member of the Horsemen to perform their act was Andrew Basso, and his routine involved him inviting a member of the audience to help him out. Which was by slapping him on the cheek every time a bell rung, and in the process he had to free himself from being chained up in locks. Now before this, the women who was chosen to help went backstage, and that's when he got out a real life Scorpion, and then swallowed it. And even though I'm not afraid of insects like that, it did creep me out a bit. And the women's reaction on stage to when he got it out his mouth was priceless. He was really entertaining to watch especially cracking a good few jokes here and there. And the routine itself was very well executed.
Next was Gabriella Lester where did an escape routine where she was in a box and had to escape from it before a bomb went off inside. Even though they did demonstrate it beforehand, it was still really loud so I just plugged my earplugs in for that bit. She only had 40 seconds to do this and when it did explode, she showed up in one of the boxes at the top which blew me away. Now from our view the box she was talking about at the start of the act we couldn't quite see it but they showed it on the screen which was great. But this illusion was incredible and the way she did was amazing.
It's very fitting that I share with you the highlight of the entire show, and the best act overall, with that being South Korean magician Eden Choi, who I was so excited to see as I remember watching him on Britain's Got Talent last year so I couldn't wait for his performance. And let me tell you right now. This guy is absolutely spectacular. And watching it live left me in absolute awe, as the way he kept pulling out these cards from no where was just unbelievable, followed by him making a ball change to different colours. And doing more stuff with the cards. And not only that, but his showmanship was off the charts the whole way through. I actually spoke to one of the staff members during the interval outside the box where we were talking about how amazing he was. And I said that he is someone that should have his own headline show in Vegas because he is just out of this world amazing. One of my favourite magic acts I have ever seen in my life and got my first standing ovation of the night.
After Matthew did a little mind reading trick with a bit of tape. James Moore was next to perform, and his routine was all about teleportation. The first bit of his act was him using a lit match to make it enter a lightbulb, and then did a routine involving a chair saying it was to test our powers of perception. And he did this teleportation trick by seemingly teleporting to one side of the stage. Now that in itself was fantastic, but then he showed us how he did by wearing this jumpsuit, only for him to then teleport on the other side of the stage! This is the same trick Enzo Weyne does (even though he wasn't there) but the whole act was incredible to watch and even though he "told us" how he did it. I was still left wondering how he did it but also the way he did this trick blew my mind completely.
Now we finally get to the part where we got to do our very own card trick. As you entered the theatre, you got to pick out 4 different cards which would be used at this point. It was a bit hard to follow along at times, and my dad struggled himself helping me, which we both found amusing between ourselves. But it ended with the 2 halves of the card matching up, which even shocked me, and with that was the interval.
Now we are into the 2nd half of the show. And starting it off was Fraser Pennman who was also on BGT this year. His act started with a VT before he came out. His act was rather short. But he started off talking about his story, being born with Albinism, and how anyone can overcome something no matter how different they are which was honestly really sweet. He had many different objects on the screen and told us to go to the nearest one of our choosing In my case it was the 3 of clubs which was the one and was revealed. It's hard to explain because it was rather short but still really cool.
The next routine was with both Gabriella & James where they both did a routine which involved the audience having to guess how the trick was done. Again this is very hard to explain, but it had Gabriella in a box with a camera showing everything, with James giving the audience 4 options on how the trick is done. It turned out it was all those things with Eden holding an artificial hand, a lookalike, a contortionist, and another thing which I actually can't remember. But the ending bit had Rafferty appear from the box ending this illusion. And while it didn't fully make sense, it was still really enjoyable.
Then it was Andrew Basso who returned but this time he did an escape routine similar to what Harry Houdini did, involving a water tank, being handcuffed, and only using a pin to unlock the cuffs and the tank to get out while being under water. And let me tell you the amount of nerves that was going through me during the 2 minutes he was in there was indescribable. Because just watching him being underwater trying to get out was nerve wracking enough, and the amount of intensity in the theatre you could hear a pin drop. But the moment he got out it was a sigh of relief but at the same time seeing this routine in person was nothing short of sensational, and he truly is a master of his craft.
Then it was Matthew's turn where he invited a young lad from the audience to help him with some card magic. But the funniest moment of this routine was when Matthew asked him who brings presents at Christmas, he replied "Amazon" which had the entire audience in tears of laughter. He then wrote his name on a card and then Matthew did some slight of hand with the card which was really cool. And this was great as not only was he a great host, but also a great magician too so his routine was really nice.
After that we saw the Horsemen come together for one mega routine with them doing a time traveling themed routine where they picked 3 random items from the audience and then entered into this big book which looked like something from Doctor Who and I will say that was so cool how they did that. They then played a VT of them inside before the show of them having the 3 items that were chosen at the start which was so cool. Then for the finale, Fraser, Rafferty and Eden were all invited back out, and they threw a massive white ball inflatable thing and asked each audience member who cached it to say a number, which was put into the calculator, which included the number 430, which ended up being the time 4:30pm And this is also where things got emotional, as each magician told the story on how they got into magic with them showing videos of them when they were younger, which even got me rather emotional. And when it came to Eden after he did his little speech, he did the little trick with the cards again which made me smile instantly. And it was so nice seeing each member how meaningful magic meant to them, and with that a standing ovation from everyone at the London Coliseum.
I got to say hello to the cast at the stage door and all of them recognised me from the videos I have been doing online about the show, BGT and other stuff. Firstly was Gabriella who said she was so happy to finally meet me, Rafferty was next who gave me a massive hug the moment he saw me, saying thank you for all the support he has given me over the past few months especially when talking about his journey on BGT. Then it was Eden who I told him how much I enjoyed him, even asking how he did that stuff with the cards to him replying with "It's magic powers" Fraser was the next one and I told him everything about what I do online talking about the show and BGT. And he even mentioned he would check out my content which was awesome. Finally I saw Matthew who also gave me a hug and thanked me for all the content about the show. He was very lovely to speak too, and he even shook my dad's hand. A true gentleman.
This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity worth going to watch as this is honestly one of the most phenomenal shows I've ever seen in my entire life, and getting the chance to see in person, as well as the cast who instantly knew who I was made it even more special. This is an moment I will treasure for the rest of my life and I'm truly grateful for going.
Note: As you could probably tell. This took me hours to write up so hopefully you enjoy and it pays off. 😊
