Fringe Theatre
Paul Zenon's Linking Rings
Le Monde
Marianne Gunn
Four stars
I'm pretty certain Paul Zenon was on kids TV when I was young. So much so, when the magician took to the stylish stage in the Le Monde cocktail bar space, a shudder of déjà vu went through me - of a magic kit that always got the better of me. I am very honest with PR people when filtering what to review: "No magic. I don't do magic. Please, no illusions here." And I was promised this show would be magical, but - crucially - not magic. It is actually a lovely hour of storytelling, reflecting on Zenon's boyhood love of Blackpool, a mystical magic shop and his (recently deceased) mentor, whom Zenon describes as a "good Fagin".
It also cleverly interweaves the life of Harry Houdini's right hand man, Jim Collins, and Zenon reveals that his own non-magical name is - wait for it - Collins. Photographs from the time aided the depiction of a genius in the shadow of the ultimate showman. A Glasgow Herald photograph, unearthed from the archives only in 2012, is the only image of the Waterfall Barrell stunt and Houdini is also seen posing at Edinburgh's Waverley Station. For anyone with a passion for magic or - like me - a love of storytelling, this is an unusually warm show straight from the heart.
Run ends 31 August.
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