Month: October 2022

Illusion Impossible

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi Everyone, and welcome to another review. Todays review is something very different and not what id ever thought I would do a review on but here we are.

Recently I went to see the one night show of ‘Illusion Impossible’ at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester. In their first UK tour since 2019, comes a really entertaining show, so much fun for any age.

Staring international star and world renowned illusionist Kayden Black, along with Oliver Tabor. With special guests magician Micheal Carr and “TV Legend” Wayne Dobson. Comes and engaging and entertaining show, full of comedy and laughter for all the family!

Tickets

I was kindly gifted these tickets as part of the press night, but the show is on a UK tour so for more information on tickets, you can check out the ‘Illusion Impossible’ website by clicking here.

Seating

I have to say on this occasion the seat seating was far from ideal, as I was sat in N15 which was three rows from the back of the theatre. This made in very difficult to see fifty percent of the show. When I came to big illusion tricks I was able to see most of what was going on on stage, but sadly when it came to the audience participation and the slight of hand tricks I saw very little which was a big disappointment. As I feel like I miss out on half of the show.

Accessibility

This is largely going to depend on you as a individual and the amount of vision that you have. If you have some useful vision and you can get a seat which is close enough to the stage then I would say that yes, definitely give this show a visit you will have a lot of fun and enjoyment. If however, you have limited to no vision. Then I sorry to say, I would give this show I pass. Eighty percent of the show is all visual. Micheal Carr would come onto the stage and do a trick with the audience with some really fun jokes and comedy which were absolutely brilliant and so their for I can’t fault him at all. However the rest of the show and magicians do no speak whilst they are performance. So their act is one hundred percent visual. There is also no audio description which I didn’t expect as they only do one show per night per venue so there just isn’t the time to accommodate it unfortunately.

Overall

Overall, I really enjoyed the show and had a really fun evening with really good entertainment. If you have a family and fancy a great night out then I would highly recommend giving this shot, you would be disappointment. But if you are totally blind and have no vision at all. Then maybe keep an eye out and see what I review next!

Until Next Time,

The VI Critic

Photo shows various images of the show, with the names Kayden Black, The Glamourists, and Oliver Tabor with special guests. With the title of illusion impossible in big silver letters.

Mischief Production’s ‘Good Luck Studio’

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi Everyone,

I recently got the chance to see ‘Good Luck Studio’ by Mischief Productions, behind the comedy shows ‘The Show Goes Wrong’ and ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ on the BBC. I wanted to see one of their shows live, and last night I got the chance so was excited! 

Ticket & Venue

I was kindly invited to The Mercury Theatre in Colchester for their press night of this show, and so was gifted the tickets for this show! Tickets range from £15 to £25, it is completely worth the money. A disabled ticket can also include a companion ticket should one be required. 

Seating

For this performance, I was offered seats in row D which are always an excellent view for anyone who is visually impaired as you are very close to the stage and was able to see everything going on from start to finish comfortably, with no eye strain whatsoever. So if you can get this row when booking your seats will have no problem here at all. 

Photo shows seating view of a cartoon setting with a castle, tree, and wall. with a backdrop of clouds and oranges. Surrounded by a tv like studio.

The Show

As I had seen this company’s production of other shows on tv, I went in with hopes being very high and they did not disappoint! The show had a dark theme, but also lots of laughter and comedy and I had a really good balance of both. You felt like you had a connection with each character and the audience felt for each of them as they were going through their struggles. The show had a real professional feel throughout which is something that I had expected coming from the company’s previous reputation. 

I can’t fault any of the cast at all, they really did put everything they had into their own performances and the passion bled from them during the whole show. A truly great performance done by all!  

shows princess pineapple in a yellow and orange pineapple dress. talking to a puppeteer holding a frog puppet.
Photo by Pamela Raith

Accessibility 

I need to start by saying that there is a content warning for this show including gunshots, a bomb threat and mock acts of terrorism. So that is something you need to bear in mind when considering booking tickets. There were multiple gunshots throughout the show, a few of them were in scenes and some were slightly muffled but it is there. For me personally, I think there were maybe too many gunshots, but at the same time some added to the plot, so I would say use your own judgement on this.

There was a great use of colour and lighting in certain scenes which were really helpful. There weren’t any dark moments which was a nice addition. The only dark moment came at the end of the first act, but that is expected. There were a lot of really bright colours as the mock tv show was a show for children so was easy to see who was who. There is a point where two different characters are wearing the same costume so I had to rely on the actors’ voices but that was only a handful of times.

shows 'Andy' (Adam Byron) wearing a bright green with purple dots dragon body custom, holding a yellow script.
Photo by Pamela Raith

There is an Audio Description performance available, if you have limited to no vision I would strongly encourage you to have the AD headset as there are a few visual jokes and tags throughout the show inducing one whole scene that is entirely visual. So take the option if you can. There is also a ‘touch tour’ available should you want that access too. The Audio Description and Touch Tour performance are on the 15th of October at 2.30 pm. 

Overall

In conclusion, I thoroughly recommend this show to adults and older teenagers. A really enjoyable night out, a great laugh with all emotions in one show! I highly recommend it for sure! ‘Good Luck Studio’ is running at The Mercury Theatre from 6th – 16th October 2022. Then running to other theatres in the UK. You can find tickets at The Mercury Theatre by clicking here, or the Good Luck Studio website here! 

Until Next Time,

The VI Critic!

a full shot of the whole set with the dragon dancing and jumping also with princess pineapple with bright lights all around them.
Photo by Pamela Raith