Theatre Teatro 2, The Pleasure Garden February 17
The world of illusion is presented by Simon Coronel in the opening night of his show Glitches in Reality.
Glitches in Reality blends illusion, theatre, comedy and music into an hour-long show, which sets out to challenge the audience’s perception of reality.As someone who loves illusion, this was one show I was particularly looking forward to, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my probably very high expectations.
Simon’s passion for magic is clear from the start as he tells the crowd of his curiosity turned almost-obsession as a child and young adult which led him to becoming an illusionist himself. You can feel his excitement as he talks about this history of illusion and how mesmerised he was as a child.
It’s definitely worth checking out, especially if you are interested in seeing a bit of behind the scenes magic, although the illusion in parts wasn’t as impressive as I had expected.
Set in all black with a minimalist feel, the stage is what I would expect of an illusion show: it’s simple and allows the audience to remain focused on each trick.
The show was off to a good start with Simon’s blend of humour and illusion keeping the crowd entertained.
I was impressed when Simon showed the audience how he uses distraction, timing and the placing of his hands to essentially trick the audience into seeing something that isn’t happening.
These illusions and the explanation of how the mind is being tricked was intriguing for the most part, but didn’t keep me engaged for the entire show.
I felt the show became predictable, at times too educational and for me his humour began wearing off towards the end.
Some audience members, much to their delight, were brought up on stage to join in which added another dimension to the show.
For anyone in awe of illusion it’s a show worth seeing, and Simon’s passion for what he does is certainly evident, but for me a lacking stage presence and at times not so impressive tricks made it a bit of a struggle towards the end.
Simon is showing off his magic tricks until Sunday February 22nd, for more details click here.
