Charming, comedic cold-reading coupled with misdirection and mind-reading in a show that entertains without breaking new boundaries.
While the mind-reading mechanisms remain a mystery, the results were the same each time
Peter Antoniou opens his psychic show by getting the majority of the audience to reveal their online passwords in a routine that delivered a punchy opening. And that’s what the show needed, more routines that brought mind-reading into the 21st Century.
Instead, we were left with unoriginal mind-reading routines involving sleight of hand and cold-reading, an industry technique used to imply that the reader knows much more about the person than they actually do. While the mind-reading mechanisms remain a mystery, the results were the same each time. Questions were written on cards at the start of the show and Peter demonstrated his mind-reading abilities in drawn-out routines that ended with the same result over and over again.
Psychic shows often work on two levels, the audience needs to be misdirected into how the mind-reading occurred and then subsequently blind-sided by the outcome. Misdirection was successfully achieved in each case, but the outcomes never seemed in doubt as Antoniou spent much of the show repeating the same guessing game with multiple audience members who, in all fairness, were often amazed by his ability to repeat the same trick.
Antoniou is at his best when interacting with the audience. A likeable and entertaining comic who had his participants relaxed, engaged and enjoying the show. He has an affinity for quick ad-libs and undoubtable comic timing, which were all performed in a friendly manner.
Update the sequences and Antoniou can combine his comic routines with a new twist on a tired genre. At the moment, he’s a likeable act with a show that delivers too much standard psychic fare.
