Magicfest Review: Lewis Barlow

As Close as You Can

Lewis is very much the traditional magician. Rather than entertain with banter or comedy, he focuses on tricks, encouraging them to speak for themselves. His more subdued style may not be for everyone and though his magic (and mind-reading) stumps audiences and his sleight-of-hand is mesmerising, there’s simplicity to his routines which, at times, could use more energy. He is the third magician (I’ve seen) this year performing the rope trick at the Magicfest and while it’s flawless, it lacks any dressing up and sadly this becomes tiring to watch.


Lewis tells us from the off he is no comedian and if there is comedy, it’s not intentional. A magic audience wants to discover the illusionist and enjoy their style through the performance, and stating this from the off perhaps robs him of some of his charm.

Understanding the nature of close-up magic Lewis seeks plenty of audience participation (in a small venue holding forty) and he succeeds in creating a tense intimacy with each routine from predicting the future and mind-reading to impossibly locating a specific business in the Yellow Pages, based on the audience’s guidance - the final flourish in this trick is especially nice. And of course, it wouldn’t be close-up without the obligatory card magic.

Lewis consistently impresses with his close-up illusions and this year is no different.

3 stars