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Andrew Frost: The Greatest Card Magician in the World

 
Victor Black Review by Victor Black 2 Published: 28 Aug 2025 Pleasance Dome Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-25 Aug 2025

Andrew Frost is The Greatest Card Magician in the World. Except, he isn’t, as he claims soon after he comes on stage. Yes, this lowers expectation to reasonable levels before we are given the opportunity to reach this conclusion ourselves, as he confesses that this was a quote from a random reviewer that becomes an underlying theme of the show’s narrative. But also, it immediately erodes trust and negates the reason most of the audience probably selected this show above the plethora of competition.

Andrew Frost is The Greatest Card Magician in the World. Except, he isn’t

Frost is an amusing and personable performer, and as he welcomes us in and warns that this show is going to be a full hour of him finding our cards, he lacks the showmanship required to be classed as a “great card magician” – the stage skills being equally important to the dexterity required to master sleight of hand. Many practitioners of the magical arts will state on their website that they have been voted “the greatest magician in the country”, before adding a footnote that this poll was conducted solely among their family, but to put this claim in your Edinburgh show title is audacious if you can’t back it up.

To his credit, he is a good magician. The range of tricks is pretty wide considering he’s confined himself to using playing cards for the whole show, and his execution of the effects will baffle most audiences. He provides a strong finale, making good use of a Chekhov’s gun that had been dripped into the narrative. His scripts, sleights and audience interaction are all solid, though he puts up a barrier between us by telling the audience he’s disappointed with some of our reactions.

Most of his tricks are tried and tested, even if he does frame them slightly differently. If you see a lot of magic shows, there’s not going to be anything in here to blow you away, and if you’re new to magic, it’s a safe introduction to card tricks. Were I to review Frost at a performance in your local town, it would probably be worthy of an extra star – there’s certainly nothing bad about it. But at Edinburgh Fringe, for an above-average ticket cost, your time would be better spent enjoying one of the more experienced high-production magic shows in the same price range, or on the Free Fringe, which still has some of the top magicians at the festival.

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The Blurb:

Andrew's recent success led to being described as the 'greatest card magician in the world'. Come and find out if it's true. 'A brilliant magician' (Derren Brown). 'A phenomenon' (David Blaine).