Entertainment Now: Review of Blink ★★★★★
This is a magic act like you have never seen before, as the audience are all subjected to collective mind control from the greatest magician the world has ever seen, Joz Norris. There are times when things go wrong, and you may think it is a comedy show, but this is not a comedy show. That’s what Joz Norris says anyway, he is a serious magician, not a comedian, definitely not a comedian.
“Blink” is completely unlike anything else you could find at the festival. It has “magic”, absurdly funny comedy, emotionally compelling monologues and even a touch of scariness. This is all part of the magic show, of course, but when you allow the show to be dictated by the audience’s subconscious, things are bound to go wrong.
The crafting of this show, with all of its intricacy and different avenues keeps you completely at the mercy of Joz Norris, you do not have a clue what is going to happen next, and supposedly neither does he, because he is going to listen to your thoughts and go from there.
The comedic style of this show is completely mad and unpredictable with hilarious physical comedy and terrific “magic tricks” that will leave the audience in stitches. The performance of Joz Norris as a zany, haphazard magician, with crippling debt and an uncertainty about his place in the world, is one of the funniest characters you could find at the Fringe. However close these traits are to his actual personality, only he can tell us.
This show is absolutely hilarious, with great jokes, tricks, misdirections and points at which you feel as though you have no idea how he comes up with this stuff. The audience are quite involved in the show, and his interactions with them will have you praying he does not come to you, but also that he does. “Blink” has originality, it’s put together very well and it will make you laugh with so many different comedic styles. Fans of comedy need to make this show a priority.
Joz Norris: Blink, 20:20, Pleasance Dome, August 19-29