What do you get if you cross Derren Brown, Paul McKenna and Uri Geller? Who cares? It's mind over matter - and when Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle is in town, those lot really don't matter. Don't cross the Mind Mangler himself, though, for what starts as a flamboyant, supernatural stage performer out to wow the crowd, ends with an increasingly exasperated illusionist hilariously losing his head. Mind Mangler stars Henry Lewis as larger-than-life mind magic man Keith and Jonathan Sayer as his cheeky friend Clive, in the guise of several audience members.
For the unitiated, the writer-actor duo are co-founders of Mischief, the theatre company behind slapstick stage classics The Play That Goes Wrong and Magic Goes Wrong and the BBC television series The Goes Wrong Show. Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer pretned to use an Ouija board in the Mind Mangler. (Image: Pamela Raith Photography) Mind Mangler is their latest comedy creation and after 10 years of Mischief, it's no surprise that Lewis, Sayer and Co have honed this inspired nonsense to a fine art.
I went to see Magic Goes Wrong with my family in the West End a couple of years ago and the brilliantly calamitous cast conjured up a stunning show including some hilarious first glimpses of the Mind Mangler in action. Arriving at Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre last night, I did wonder whether there would be enough mirth-inducing material from the Mind Mangler to carry a whole performance. I needn't have worried as Lewis ha.