Kevin Quantum: Momentum
★★★★☆ Magic
Assembly Rooms – Music Hall (Venue 20): Thu 3 – Sun 27 Aug 2023
Review by Hugh Simpson
Edinburgh’s own scientist-turned-magician has produced another thoroughly entertaining show in Kevin Quantum: Momentum at the Assembly Rooms.
In a beautifully varied hour, there is a carefully considered balance between small- and large-scale illusions; a camera and screen help make the sleight of hand accessible to all in a large venue.
Kevin Quantum with a volunteer in Momentum
Many of the more intimate tricks are baffling; there are of course moments where some of the audience are smugly congratulating themselves on working out how it is done, only to be thrown by another subsequent level that sinks their theory.
Pieces of paper that swap over, cards that are miraculously reconstituted after being torn up, good old-fashioned cup and ball – they are all done with speed and humour.
Audience participation, like the tricks themselves, is well packaged to involve different age groups. Quantum is excellent at dealing with his crowd, especially those younger members whose enthusiasm could easily backfire in the wrong circumstances.
layers
There are some elements that are extremely silly, and some that are far more serious. The showstopping final ‘experiment’ is cleverly trailed earlier, only to be given a further layer before it happens. The experiment itself may be familiar to some television viewers, but is definitely worth seeing in the flesh.
Kevein Quantum with a volunteer in Momentum
More than just clever illusions, however, a great magic show needs to have a magnetic performance. There is something very endearing about Quantum’s persona – he would appear welcoming, warm and vulnerable even without his lower leg encased in a moonboot thanks to an Achilles tendon injury.
As is the case with the best illusion-based shows, you start to wonder if he really is injured, just as you question whether his admission that he has in fact previously met one of his randomly-selected volunteers before is the truth, or another level of bluff.
Which is as it should be – there has to be an element of second-guessing, just as there has to appear to be a chance that tricks could fail to work, or a stunt could go horribly wrong.
approachable
It is not all perfect – the ‘life lesson’ element referring to in the title, which all such shows apparently have to include nowadays, seems tacked on.
But this is just another part of the act, really – Quantum comes over not as a Hollywood-style illusionist, or a forbidding, otherworldly figure like Derren Brown. Instead, he appears to be an approachable, slightly nerdy figure who we are all willing on to impress us – which he certainly does.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Assembly Rooms (Music Hall), 54 George St, EH2 2LR (Venue 20)
Thursday 3 – Sunday 27 August 2023
Daily (not 22) at 4.45 pm
Tickets and details Book here.
Kevin Quantum links
Website: https://quantummagician.com
Instagram: @kevinquantum
Facebook: @KevinQuantum
Twitter: @kevinquantum.
Kevin Quantum: Momentum
ENDS
