Tahir
The Worldâs Best Worst Magician
Adelaide Fringe
Octagon, Gluttony
14/3/21
Is Tahir the worldâs best worst or worst best or the best of the worst or the worst of the best or just the worst or the best? Heâs a comedian and magician, in any case, and in this childrenâs show he attempts to combine the two. Sometimes it works, sometimes heâs not the best. Or the worst.
One man, a fair size stage, a table of props and a gig audience to use for participation. As Tahir notes, âthree year olds are tricky, youâre not sure what theyâre going to do.â Nor necessarily can you predict how they might take to a joke or a magicianâs performance because whilst the Mystery of the Vanishing Bandanna was excellent (obviously, being misread, this became the vanishing Banana) the idea of plucking a dad from the audience and making him into a baby was less effective with preschoolers, who just couldnât quite comprehend the joke.
The problem here is that Tahir is a good magician; so when he says âbadâ itâs irony, and kids have trouble with irony, preferring their backhanded humour to be a little less perceptual. Sardonic, even. So when Tahir pretends to show how a trick is constructed and in doing so reveals heâs not a dolt, he is actually revealing that he is clever and that the joke is on the audience. Just like all magic shows, since they all essentially play the same sleight trick upon their audience.
And so it was with the worldâs best worst magician, a show of âone step forwardâ and âtwo steps backâ. The audience all played their parts: Harper and Lily played the innocents in the yellow silk scarf routine; three year old James was adorably passive, and Jeremy (renamed Jeff) as dad was excellent. Sadly the show just failed to capture the attention, except where it did so by assaulting the senses. Failed and dropped audio cues were one thing, but the attack by volume is an appalling oversight and unacceptable for a childrenâs show. Too many kids in the audience were forced to cover their ears too many times.
Tahir is clearly not the worldâs worst magician, and this is not a bad show. It moves along quite well, and stretches to achieve its high points, which are quality, but it is also a patchy affair.
Octagon, Gluttony
20 & 21 March 2021