The Colour Ham consist of Colin McLeod the mentalist, Kevin McMahon the magician, and Gavin Oattes the puller of funny faces. This show is a colourful assortment of magic, mind reading and flagrant mucking about.
With an hilariously inept River Dance spoof, a live séance for someone’s dead pet, a German rendition of ‘Candle in the Wind’, a children’s television presenter that shouldn’t be allowed near kids and some hilarious pantomime, the show swerves violently between epic stunts, piss-takes and pantomime. The three lads play off each other brilliantly weaving in and out of each other’s moments in the spotlight; sometimes helping each other, sometimes hindering each other.
It’s refreshing to see such a mash up of genres. The lads bring levity to magic - an art form which is frequently buried in tropes and tradition. The battle between a mentalist and a magician proves furiously entertaining, and Gav, the trio’s resident comedian, is there to ensure nothing gets taken too seriously for too long.
It’s an almost perfect show, though the segues from scene to scene fall flat occasionally. (I’m still left wondering why Colin removed his trousers halfway through a magic act.) The three are also not so gentle with their willing audience participants. Any performer who tricks or embarrasses audience members on stage destroys good will for future performances.
Yet, the three play to their strengths: having a capacity for dire silliness - redeeming the troupe for their mean-streak, and they seemed to receive forgiveness from all involved. Like all great performers, they saved the best till last with a genuinely impressive magical stunt. We the audience remain bound to secrecy about what it entails.
Furiously funny and robustly ridiculous – I have no doubt these guys will have packed houses for the entirety of the Fringe.
