Chris Dugdale is an instantly likeable magician. Resembling a combination of Zach Braff and Michael McIntyre, he bounds around the stage oozing charm and corny jokes. It must be said that his set is rather bitty; the tricks follow no discernible pattern despite all Dugdale’s attempts at trying to create a narrative out of what is essentially a series of very impressive magic tricks. Yet we mustn’t judge him primarily on his tech or the ‘story’ but on the core of his set, his magic.
As an associate of the inner magic circle one would expect Dugdale to be a pretty incredible magician, and he certainly does not disappoint. There is no point going into details, as it would run the risk of ruining the show for any potential audience member, but it is worth pointing out that Dugdale is a canny master of subverting the audience’s expectations. Nothing is as it seems and you will truly have no idea of when the final stroke of magic will fall. Not limited to card tricks, he is as happy manipulating the human psyche as well.
It was not a perfect show by any means, the tech failed to add much atmosphere and the audience decided to remain boringly unimpressed, however, I had a good night and left awed by Dugdales magic ability.