THE ILLUSIONISTS 2.0 Her Majesty’s Theatre Until 05 Jan 2014 Review by Brian Godfrey Ever since humans have walked the Earth, they have been fascinated by the unknown, the impossible and the magical. From early Man’s fear and wonder of fire through to the popularity of Harry Potter, magic has woven its spell on the world. With modern times come modern terminologies: magic is now referred to as illusion and those who entertain us with it as illusionists. The names may have changed, but the mystery and wonderment are still there, as evidenced by the extremely magical “The Illusionists 2.0”. Following in the very successful footsteps of the previous “The Illusionists”, 2.0 is a whole new show with all new masters of illusion – seven of them in fact: ‘The Unusualist’ (Adelaide’s very own Raymond Crowe), ‘The Deceptionist’ (James More from England), ‘The Futurist’ (U.S.A’s Adam Trent), ‘The Master Magician’ (Luis De Mato from Portugal), Belgium’s ‘ The Warrior’ (Aaron Crow), ‘The Hypnotist’ (Dr Scott Lewis from America) and South Korea’s ‘The Manipulator’ (Yu Ho-Jin). A show such as this is hard to review because every moment is a marvellous treat that would be ruined by giving too much away (a little like the illusions themselves), but there are certainly a multitude of highlights: Ho-Jin’s beautifully serene act; Dr Lewis’s hilarious hypnotic hi-jinks; the terrifying and squirm worthy displays of More and Crow; Raymond Crowe’s very funny ‘audience member helps with an ‘invisible’ card trick’ routine; Trent’s stunning and stupefying look at magic in the future; and De Mato teaching the entire audience a magic trick that works (don’t forget to take an envelope from the Front of House staff as you enter the auditorium). This production is dazzling, thrilling, surprising, funny and extremely entertaining – in short, ideal family summer fare. Call magic what you will – trick, illusion, prestidigitation, or ‘sleight-of-hand’: but call “The Illusionists 2.0” excellent.