Mario the Maker Magician review

Jimmy Fallon featured him on The Tonight Show; David Copperfield wrote the foreword to his book Robot Magic; and David Blaine, with whom he has toured, called him the “best kids’ magician in the world”. Personally, I think Blaine may have missed a trick or two there. New York-based Mario Marchese is, indeed, a dynamic prestidigitator, as well as a hugely appealing clown who grips audiences of all ages in the palm of each dexterous hand. But this is not just a laugh-out-loud, children’s party-style magic show; it also combines a daft DIY robotics demo with a deeply felt homily to the importance of science, education and the pursuit of young persons’ interests. We even get a brief disquisition on the New York art scene. This is hyper-high energy meets sky-high concept, and the results are explosive.

Performing alone on a deceptively simple set of giant, coloured balloons and home-made inflatables, with a script devised with his producer and wife Katie Marchese, Mario bounces off the walls with an irresistible anarchic fervour. Like a big excitable kid in a grown-up’s body – albeit one with tattoos and rock’n’roll hipster edge – he squirts us with water, steals our shoes and caps (even balancing the latter on the bridge of his nose) and works close-up sleight of hand with pink shoelaces and bright red clown noses in ways you would not believe. He even turns water into... well, if not wine exactly, then something similarly coloured that a dad in the audience found eminently drinkable.

Continues...