Wonders
5 October 2019
The Famous Spiegeltent, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 20 October
www.festival.melbourne
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| Scott Silven. "Wonders" |
If you know how it's done, what's the point? You can look into the shadows behind the stage, watch Scott Silven's hands and refuse to shut your eyes when he asks you to – and you will be left even more amazed at Wonders.
Magic? Mind reading? Trick? Mass hypnosis? Silven calls himself a mentalist and an illusionist. He never pretends that he's magic. He's soap-opera-lead good looking with dark hair that's a just-right cut of either too short or too long and a dark suit that could be hiding all sorts of tricks.
The Famous Spiegeltent's velvet, wood panels, mirrors, coloured glass and ghosts of thousands of performances heightens the mood of the simple stage with quaint olde worlde props and smokey lights.
He's charming in a way that lets everyone think they could be his friend. He wouldn't offend at any dinner party and the sort of person who you wouldn't hate if you were stuck next to him on a long-haul flight. As he talks of reading and escaping to his grandmother's attic as a child and playing with her necklace as he counted the seconds to darkness, he's every child that felt they were different; it's so easy to trust him and his stories.
And we do.
We know he's not reading our minds, but it's wonderful to think that he his. His skill is faultless. He makes accurate predictions, guesses words that people are thinking, and produces drawings and ideas and thoughts that are for more than misdirection and sleight of hand.
It's wonderful. His narrative is minimal, but he talks about re-igniting a sense of wonder and community. His wonder starts with nostalgia, empathy and recognition. This creates joy and comfort. And it's wonderful to be in a room that's so full of joy.
I don't want to know the tricks.
