Morgan and West are Magicians, Time Travellers and all round spiffing Chaps! With an introduction like that you can be assured that there presentation of Parlour Tricks will set them out as a different kind of magic act. I’ve mentioned before that I love magic. Possibly something that I don’t disclose that often is that I used to perform magic tricks on a night out with my friends. So to see a show about magic, I can enjoy it for what it is, but also appreciate the work and technicalities though out the show!
Morgan and West
Morgan and West first caught my attention on a TV show called Penn & Teller : Fool Us. The concept being that magicians were invited to perform magic tricks in front of the world famous Penn & Teller. If acts managed to fool them, then they were invited to perform in Las Vegas. Morgan and West were one of the few that did manage to fool Penn & Teller. Their routine took a different angle on a card trick and combine silhouette cutting.
We next found Morgan and West up at the Edinburgh Fringe a couple of years ago. Up there they were performing a children’s magic show called “Morgan & West’s Utterly Spiffing Spectacular Magic Show For Kids & Childish Grown-ups!”. The combination of Victorian gentlemen and a good helping of tom-foolery kept our two gripped for the length of the show. Even though it was like 200 degrees inside the lecture theatre.
Morgan and West Parlour Tricks
Tonight we had tickets to see Parlour Tricks at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House. This set up was their other show. The stage was set up to suggest a victorian drawing room with 3 wall panels and a selection of tables and cabinets. At around 5 minutes before the show Morgan and West started to mill around the audience and chat to everyone within chatting distance. As more people arrived Rhys Morgan explained over the head mic, that the show hadn’t started and it would become obvious when it actually had.
Let the Parlour Tricks Begin
This is where I side step away from reviewing the Magic show on a step by step basis. The reason I’ll emphasise is that Magic happens in your head. The Magician performs and illusion and creates the idea that something magic has happened and if done correctly that is what you believe. A fundamental part of this is not knowing what is about to happen next. For example if I said that the magician pulled a rabbit from the hat, you would know it was coming when he grabbed the hat. Then the impressive reveal wouldn’t be as impressive.
So instead I’ll say that Parlour Tricks created a setup that was in tune with the Victorian performance. There was no flashing lights or dancing show girls. There was a lack of acrylic boxes and glitter curtains. Parlour Tricks was a more simple entertaining evening of magic. The duos humour passed on to the Newcastle audience really well. When audience members were called upon they managed to add to the show. One guy forgot which playing card he’d chosen, while one lady volunteer managed to randomly choose a word that inadvertently made her look like a stooge that had been set up.
Where the “Magic Show for Kids” had name calling and silliness, Parlour tricks wasn’t aimed at the youngest family members. Although there are a couple of cross over routines. Robert West has a slightly more childish delivery and his mastery of twisting words around is impressive. Abigail and Imogen enjoyed the show as much as we both did. Although for children there were a couple of routines that were slower and one where I wasn’t sure if Abigail should be watching!
“Parlour Tricks” and “Morgan & West’s Utterly Spiffing Spectacular Magic Show For Kids & Childish Grown-ups!” are about to be retired. The pair have two new shows that are about to start touring “More Magic for Kids” and “Time Travelling Magicians”. Both of which will be previewed at teh Edinburgh Fringe festival across August. For more dates on where you can see Morgan and west visit http://www.morganandwest.co.uk/live-dates/
Morgan and West Mechandise
After the show Rhys Morgan and Robert West were available for photos and autographs, but also to sell their merchandise. As the two are a little different from any other magician, so is their souvenirs. Catherine was very excited to get her hands on one, even though the Kids refused to buy it!
A Morgan and West Tea Towel! Which sort of brings us around full circle as the design is of the pair as a silhouette cut out.
We really had a good night out and hope to see the next installments of their magical productions evolve with their unique take on performing magic. For more information about Morgan and West or to just see some of their videos check out their website at http://www.morganandwest.co.uk/
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