2008 Melbourne Magic Festival Reviews
Scamtastic
Erin Davidson – 27 September 2008

A near capacity crowd turned out to see Nicholas J. Johnson – conman, human lie detector and magician. Some left never being able to trust anyone ever again, some left with inspiration and ideas, but I’m sure all left feeling thoroughly entertained.

This show is not reliant on simple gimmicks or shock factor. It is very well formed, with a recurring joke with an audience member leading up to the jaw-dropping finale. Nicholas’s manner is intelligent, insightful and funny, and I found myself hanging off his every word for the entire duration, afraid I would miss something vital.

It’s true that Nicholas does let us in on some of a conman’s tricks of the trade but this show is not an expose’. He never lets you believe you are untrickable. If anything, it makes you realise how easily we can fall prey to the power of suggestion and a lot of the magic is often found in basic psychology.

There is an opportunity for five suitably steely-eyed audience members to test their lying skills against Nicholas. As he points out, when it comes to being a successful liar, it takes one to know one, and sure enough he was able to pick the one true liar from the bunch, based on their one word responses.

Nicholas also has something any profitable liar (or performer for that matter) must possess – charisma. Despite fooling us over and over again, you just can’t help but like him. The humour lies in the countless clever and unexpected twists throughout the show. Catch him if you can!

The Melbourne Magic Festival runs from September 22nd – October 4th. See Northcote Town Hall website for the full guide.