Hailing all the way from Luxembourg, Christian Lavey presents his Adelaide Fringe debut Enchanting Minds—A Night of Magic and Mindreading in a pleasantly cool room conveniently in the center of town. As far as show structure goes, Lavey keeps it simple and straightforward. With his engaging stage presence and well performed mentalism, it is certainly an entertaining evening.

The magic that Lavey presents is a series of his favorite tricks, organized neatly to provide an escalating degree of impressive reveals. As a non-native speaker of English, one trick involving a reveal of reciting non-linear lists of numbers stands out as especially well performed. The reveal itself is of course innately impressive, but as any language learner will know, listing random numbers in a non-native language is a particularly difficult skill to master. It is commendable that Lavey not only chose to include this trick in his first Adelaide fringe show, but also that at the reviewed show he presented the reveal without a hitch.

The success of this trick was not a unique feature, Lavey’s magic is well performed throughout. His sock card trick was a highlight, with a fun reveal that neatly led in to the next effect in a slick transition. The venue is relatively intimate and Lavey gets the majority of the audience involved in his show. The majority of the participation is completed while staying seated, saving time to pack in more magic and keeping the level of participation required fairly relaxed. Lavey is welcoming to everyone who gets involved in his show, whether from their seats or with him on stage.

Lavey is evidentially a skilled performer, the smooth delivery of both his routines and patter indicate a wealth of experience. However, as with every magic show, the audience participants are still a wildcard. At the reviewed show one in particular adds flair to the segment she participates in—a classic “dangerous item” routine. She eagerly inspected the items that Lavey uses, and, with equal eagerness, selected and deployed them, risking harming Lavey with each choice, all with zero hesitation. This was not due to indifference to Lavey’s potential harm, but, she explained, due to her trust that he knew what he was doing. Her contribution to the act made for an unusually wholesome take on this classic of magic.

Lavey successfully enchants the minds of the audience of Enchanting Minds. Perhaps the best measure of the success of a show is how the audience gossips amongst itself once they are out of earshot of the performer, and following the reviewed performance of Enchanting Minds audience members could be heard extremely pleased to have experienced such a well performed show to kickstart their evening. Despite the central location, the venue is tucked away a bit from the gardens that the Fringe revolves around, giving Enchanting Minds the feel of a hidden gem of a show. With its great tricks and Lavey’s skilled performance, it can only be a success