Doug Segal: How To Read Minds


Mick Perrin for Just For Laughs Live
Gilded Balloon Teviot

With a joviality and friendliness combined with an effortlessly easy-going stage presence, the audience is putty in the Doug Segal's hands. Which is a good thing, as after the first few displays of mental prowess you'd be thinking “We must burn this witch before he makes toys of our minds.” While the audience members are subjected to baffling feats of mind reading, you'll be so captivated that you won't even have time to think “Derren Who?”

The show manages to cram a surprising amount into the short running time and the feats of manipulation and mental leapfrogging are cunningly well performed, with several even explained to the audience as the show goes along. Which surprisingly takes none of the spectacle out of the situation, if anything only adding credence and respect to the talents of the mind reader.

Given the amount of audience interaction and disruption, there is potential for the show to become unwieldy and problematic, but Segal's natural charm and stagecraft ensures that it's all just a jolly good wheeze.

Give yourself a nice treat before the end of the Fringe and have your mind blown completely.

Reviewer: Graeme Strachan

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