Mind Mangler London Reviews Round-up

"A joyful spinoff from Magic Goes Wrong"

"... Mind Mangler is a joyful spin-off show for the shabby, malfunctioning mentalist first seen in Magic Goes Wrong. It is a comedy at the expense of his sort of sub-Derren Brown illusionist. It also triumphs at the illusions of which it first affects to be incapable."

"The key here is Henry Lewis’s Orson Wellesian pseudo-gravitas as Mind Mangler, a dignity forever upended by his circumstances, temper or rebellious associates. “Don’t pity me!” he roars as the audience try to help him find a solution."

"Hannah Sharkey’s pacey production gives several neat twists on the expected, never better than in a spoon-bending routine that is both a good joke and a fine spectacle."

"It will be too broad for some tastes. Yet the surprises and laughs keep coming in a spin-off that’s less varied but more consistent than the show from which it sprang."

"Nods to classic comedies"

"Mischief Theatre’s latest is silly, predictable but unarguably funny"

"Once we are comfortably in a rhythm of watching the Mind Mangler’s strained attempts to manipulate his audience and read their minds, it’s an eerie curveball when his tricks start going right."

"But this is a play, not a magic show, even if the plot is thin. Called on stage multiple times is Sayer as the Stooge, a planted audience member and the Mind Mangler’s incompetent aid. The pair are housemates in a struggling bromance and the story, which has a few ‘aww’ moments, sees them patching up their relationship."

"Fortunately, it is funny. Even if the humour outstrips the magic and the story doesn’t develop, Mischief prove there is still more mileage in their it-won’t-be-all-right-on-the-night yarn, as silly and predictable as it may be."

"Mischief Theatre’s unnecessary sequel to ‘Magic Goes Wrong’ beats you over the head with the same joke for over two hours"

"As is customary in the plays created by Lewis and his co-writers Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, there’s mess and slapstick aplenty. But, is two hours-plus of slip-ups and mistakes enough to keep our attention? Well, most of the audience seems to love it."

Eventually, the show pulls the rug from underneath us. Shockingly, the Mind Mangler’s tricks start to go right. His successful and genuinely very impressive mind reading sends ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ around the audience, while the big finale is would surely make Derren Brown impressed. But it’s a little too late to compensate for the sloggy bulk of the play. You’d get more from a night out at a decent actual magic show."