The Remarkable Ben Hart - Palais du Variété Assembly George Square Gardens - Edinburgh Fringe Review

Drama, Comedy, Music, Dance, you can find it all at the Edinburgh Fringe, and if you are looking for something that will thrill a family of varying ages, then you can’t really go wrong with magic.

And if you want to see the best of the best when it comes to magic, a performer more magical than you could ever imagine, then this is ‘The Remarkable Ben Hart’.

A firm fringe favourite, Ben Hart has been bringing his effortlessly stylish, full of flair, and simply mind-blowingly magical self to the festival for a number of years and with this show guaranteed to have you wondering ‘how on earth did he do that?’ time and time again in the space of an hour, it’s no surprise that he’s a sell-out sensation.

 In this new ‘best of’ magic production, audiences are welcomed into the magical surroundings of Assembly’s Palais du Varieté, where Hart takes centre stage of an in the round setting, allowing him to move around the space as he directly interacts with the audience throughout. Prepare to be amazed as he does many seemingly impossible things, blurring the lines between reality and dreams, where it feels almost as if time itself stands still. Large objects disappear in front of your very eyes, items being held securely by audience members behave strangely, and minds are read.

Whilst Hart’s incredible magical ability could very easily speak for itself and sell out large venues, it is this combined with the style and showmanship of this performer that sends this production to sky high levels. He is an expert at working with an audience, putting everyone at ease, making sure that everyone feels relaxed and able to let their guard down and just embrace the wonder of it all.

Hart notices everything, integrating details he spots around the space into the show; a child perhaps, or at the performance I attended this year, a service dog sat by the steps to the stage that he was careful to instruct anyone joining him on the boards to watch out for. He showcases a natural flair for improvisation, able to effortless bounce smart and funny comments off what an audience member says or does as he enjoys the freedom of the venue, exploring it and making sure that audience members seated further away feel as involved as those sitting in the front few rows, and this injection of laughter seems to make things feel even more magical. Hart is a storyteller; never does this feel like a showcase of one trick rapidly followed by another. Every moment is illustrated vividly by stories, and you could hear a pin drop and everyone in that space in hanging on his every word, wondering what he is going to do next.

With a production as spectacular as this one, it is hard to find the words to describe other than the obvious, magical, but that is what ‘The Remarkable Ben Hart’ is. Simply magical. This is so much more than a magic show, it’s incredibly stylish, oozes glamour and at its centre, is Ben Hart himself, one of, if not the greatest, magicians and showmen you could ever hope to see.