Pete Firman has been doing quite well for himself over the past few years and his sold out (or thereabouts) house reflects this. Blending comedy with old school magic tricks his balance of both is just right for a solid hour’s entertainment.
Levitation, coins from behind ears and joining two hoops (coat hangers in this case) for a novel twist on pushing them together and pulling them apart are all present. These classics are accompanied by deliberately hackneyed puns and jokes, all delivered with an edge reminiscent of a younger Tommy Cooper.
Pete knows you’ve seen these tricks before and knows you’ve heard these jokes before and plays up to this throughout. The tricks and jokes (often involving the usual slightly embarrassed audience participation) are all carried out with confidence.
The problem is that even the most “tired” of routines (knots in hankies disappearing inexplicably) are still exciting to a first time viewer and somehow retain an innocent charm that at times with a “wink wink, nudge nudge” are ripped from them to belie an overconfident magician whose erstwhile joke swearing at technicians comes across as just a little too genuine and jaded. There are a few touches of glorious sensation, comedy and bedazzlement (see his hypnosis act and a not for the squeamish embroidery inspired skit) but it is at the end, for an encore piece that, whilst based around one of the oldest tricks in the book, Pete Firman truly shines amidst knowingly rubbish and endearing disco dancing.
Cynicism needs to be placed aside and his genuine love of the Art of Magic needs to be revealed a little more for this rabbit to truly prove himself more than a one card trick.
3/5 
Catriona Ruth Paterson
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