Mo Magic

No matter how many times I see a magic show, I can never figure it out.

That’s perfect, because if you know how it’s done it would never have the same impact.

So when magician Mo Magic performs, I’m still delightfully baffled by the sleight of hand that lies behind the card tricks and rope tricks, the self-solving Rubik’s Cube, and the levitating table.

Mo discovered magic when he was an engineering student at university, and it appealed to his analytical mind. He’s into the mentalism side of magic too, with mindreading tricks that leave you shaking your head with puzzlement.

I was perplexed too by one loose end, when a ring that he’d obviously palmed didn’t reappear, leaving him promising it would turn up somewhere on the body of its owner when they met in the foyer afterwards. A trick that went wrong, perhaps. Well his name is Mohamed, not Jesus, he quips, so don’t expect miracles.

The show is nicely presented with some upbeat music and a good range of different types of up-close tricks that are nicely mystifying rather than intensely mindblowing.

Mo instantly establishes an amiable rapport with the audience through his easy and friendly banter. He makes a couple of inoffensive religious quips and generates some ad lib laughs along the way in a package that he describes as good, clean, family-friendly fun. In fact you can take the kids, they’ll love it.

Charming the audience essential, because the show relies heavily on willing participants to get on stage and get involved. Everyone is treated respectfully and he doesn’t draw his laughter at their expense, so if you get called, go up, and see if you can figure out the trickery happening under your nose.

Mo Magic is on at Sandton’s Auto & General Theatre on the Square until Saturday. Tickets from Computicket.