Far too nice fort any darker arts

Mark Salem - On Second Thoughts
Tricycle Theatre

FANS of Marc Salem – the world-renowned mind reader from New York – may well have been having second thoughts after a very public blunder at the Tricycle Theatre last week.
After misreading the mind of one member of the audience, the amiable showman brought his hand crashing down on the wrong paper cup, impaling it on a razor sharp dagger.
He left the Tricycle Theatre with a great gash in his pride, the lapse committed on press night of all nights. But his authority was still intact, having silenced the doubters who pass his powers of perception off as a sham.
It is inviting to believe that Salem has some paranormal gift. No doubt he would be swinging from the gallows in the 17th century, at the Salem witch trials perhaps.
The name Salem conjures up visions of witchcraft but, sadly, he is no dark arts master – he is disappointingly nice.
I find it hard to believe that anyone with these faculties would limit themselves strictly to entertainment. The mentalist Derren Brown – Britain’s answer to Salem – was banned from casinos across the country after more than a lucky streak on the blackjack tables.
But Salem – who by his own admission is a “family man” who uses his powers to help New York cops catch crooks – reveals he is turned off by cards, despite his son’s best endeavours to turn him into a poker player.
Salem could be a master criminal. He could take the horse to water and make it drink. So why is he performing petty tricks with plastic cups and not plotting the fall of a civilization in comic book legend? The answer is part of his appeal.
He is an entertainer who makes bad jokes and gets things wrong from time to time. Like a modern day Prospero – he knows there are human limits to his art.
There are many mistakes in his act. But this is all part of the show. Steadily he fuels our amazement, building up our convictions that he is one of us only to blow them all away again.
His signature piece at the end of the night – where he randomly shouts out names into the crowd only to reveal the finer details of their recent holidays – was something to behold.
Recommended.

Until August 5
020 7328 1000

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