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| - I'm not sure how to rate this because a lot of my disappointment has to do with my own expectations. But I think 2 stars is fair.
First of all, this is part of the Cirque family of shows. So, I was expecting acrobatics as a backdrop to Chriss' illusions. This show did not even remotely resemble a Cirque show. If you're hoping to see amazing acrobatics along with a magic show, this isn't the show.
Second, I always thought this show was supposed to be kind of creepy. The print adverts always have this Victorian gothic vibe. When we walked into the theatre, that vibe was very much there. As we waited for the show to start there was this creepy soundtrack playing. I thought it was going to be a magic show (with acrobats) that kind of messed with your mind. It turned out to be a comedy!!!
As far as comedies go, it was ok.The cast of characters in this show is rather ridiculous and is so far removed from the Victorian gothic vibe of the adverts that you wonder if you are in the right show. But we did enjoy the little sidekick dude, Maestro. The rest of the supporting characters were unnecessary and rather distracting. While I did laugh at Maestro and enjoyed his performance, I was still disappointed I wasn't getting the creepy show I had expected.
Several times I felt that Chriss was bored in his own show. Obviously, when he interacts with the audience it is mostly scripted. He does a horrible job of making it feel natural and NOT scripted. His interaction with his cast of characters is just as awkward.
Some of the illusions were pretty good but there were a few that were poorly done. He did this thing with doves and you could see them popping out of his sleeve. Six of us went to the show together and while talking later, we all had parts of the show where we could see how they were doing the trick. There were a couple of times where I was thinking "how did they just do that!" but it was nothing you haven't seen on Mindfreak.
At one point Chriss sets us up for an illusion that he says we've never seen before. There is going to be blood and we're going to be amazed. Then he saws a girl in half. Sorry Chriss, we've all seen that before. Just because you used a giant, rotating saw doesn't mean it is a new trick. I found it interesting that the girl's body split in half right as the blade touched her abdomen. I guess the magic here was that a person could split in half without having their spine severed. It was also so obvious that the bottom half of the body was mechanical. He built up that illusion so much that it was completely anti-climatic. Then he made a disgusting joke about how he goes through a lot of women with that trick but he always keeps the bottom half. Ugh. Sorry, I didn't find that funny at all. There was a lot of crude, junior high type humor and I admit, I did laugh. But that joke was just over the line.
Overall, I was very disappointed with this show (Chriss never even takes his shirt off!!) I think they could do something really awesome with his illusions, some Cirque elements and playing off that Victorian gothic vibe. They could create a truly creepy, mind blowing experience. But this was like watching a poorly acted school production with so-so illusions. It really felt like this show doesn't know what it wants to be and is being pulled in several different directions. The end result is a very mediocre show for a very steep admission price.
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