Fringe Interview: Morgan and West

Victorian duo Morgan and West have become part of the magic furniture at the Fringe. Famed for their slick performance and well-mannered loquacious humour, they chatted to Rebecca Paul about their craft and the two shows they’re bringing to the Fringe this year.

‘With Clockwork Miracles we want to deliver some really strong, original and entertaining magic that, as well as being baffling, is visually and aurally impressive. We want the show to be a spectacle, rather than just a bunch of tricks.’
‘Our second show, Lying, Cheating Scoundrels, is unlike anything we've done before – and as far as we know unlike any magic show before at the Fringe. Inviting our audience to sit round a card table with us has brought a whole new range of challenges and opportunities, presentational and methodological, and the show has grown into a very different beast to what we first imagined.’

The image of the Victorian Magician is integral to every aspect of their work and while it provides a springboard for ideas, it can also make devising the tricks that bit more difficult.
‘The aesthetic influences everything we do - we can’t use a prop that looks out of place or borrow a phone from a volunteer, as stylistic anachronism shatters the experience for an audience. Even the humour in our show has to come from our characters. It’s challenging, but these limitations force you to be creative and original, which is something we strive for.’
Watching the two perform in such synchronicity, one wonders how long it takes to produce such a polished act but apparently it's never quite perfect.
‘Every time you do a show, or a trick, or even just say a line, there’s a chance to tinker with the delivery and try to improve: every show has the potential to be better than the last. Still, we’re known for being very polished on stage (it is something of a necessity when working in a double act) and that takes a lot of work. Each Edinburgh show is built over the course of a year or so. We get up each morning and work on the tricks, or the props, or the million other things that go towards making a show.’
'All magic is based upon slipping a lie past your audience that they won't notice. Some routines require lots of these lies, all piled on top of each other, this can be quite tricky (if you’ll forgive the pun). Other tricks are based around one single untruth that has to be disguised so it doesn’t stick out for the giant porky that it is. Both of these things lead to complex tricks but in different ways: sometimes we’ll spend hours devising methods to accomplish the nigh-on impossible, but in other cases the difficulty is in the idea, the motivation and scripting of the trick.'

Magic faces a challenge at the festival. If a Fringe-goer sees a bad comedian they will invariably go and see another one. Sitting through a sloppy, cliched magic show, on the other hand, is enough to turn off audiences all together. That said, magic has seen a resurgence in recent years. In 2000 there were just two shows at the Fringe while this year sees an extraordinary boost at forty-two separate performances.
Morgan and West put this down to TV appearances from the likes of Penn and Teller, Derren Brown and David Blaine with his brand of street magic.
'There's also an increased appetite for cabaret and variety shows as new audiences are exposed to live magic.
'TV is grand but things are even more impossible when done in front of your very eyes. More inventive acts are trying to break in and it’s brilliant that more and more magicians every year are putting on shows.
'It also makes it more of a challenge, which is great, because you have to make sure your show is more miraculous than the last one your audience saw.'

Morgan and West are playing at the Gilded Balloon until the end of the month

Fringe Review: Clockwork Miracles

Ah Morgan and West. This Victorian illusionist duo gets tighter and tighter every year and their slick, stylised show is always a Fringe treat.

A love of all things scientific, mathematic and paradoxical is at the heart of the Clockwork Miracles. There are three of four tricks which are simple, snappily-presented and full of whimsy and going by the raucous applause, they certainly hit the spot with the audience.

While the narrative of the act ticks like clockwork (oddly enough), there are delightful unexpected interruptions. A new routine is underway and Mr Morgan unexpectedly encounters a mechanical error. Mr West looks on, a growing sense of concern causing the quiver of his sculpted moustache. He begins inspecting the broken magician and some illusions simply trickle out. Later Mr Morgan is encouraging Mr West to don a clown nose and an ornate and silent-comedic style illusion ensues. These are beautifully executed magical moments which punctuate the performance and catch the audience off guard.

As with all magic, there are re-imaginings of the older tricks but here the accompanied whimsy keeps them fresh. Some routines drift into the mind-reading domain and these work well, though they lack the snap, crackle and pop of the more traditional illusions.

As ever, these guys work splendidly together and Clockwork Miracles is the result of a meticulously planned and admirably creative magic show.

4 stars

Clockwork Miracles runs until August 27 (not 14) @ Gilded Balloon
The dashing duo also have another magic show; Lying Cheating Scoundrels. A more intimate evening of cards around a table. Cosy. Runs until August 26 @ Gilded Balloon at midnight

My Fringe: Part II





I’ve got the scratchy-eyelid thing happening which has been aided by my lack of caffeine today; I rarely go a day without the frothy goodness of a cappuccino. I spent my day tasting the delights of the Gilded Balloon taking in some mind-reading, magic and theatre.

A Donkey and A Parrot

A Donkey and a Parrot is a charming one-man theatre show. Sarah Hamilton enthusiastically tells the story of her family’s survival as they try to escape religious persecution in France, attempting the treacherous clandestine journey to England. Along the way they encounter crooked boatmen, slave drivers and helpful neighbours. Through mime, finger puppetry, song and movement all atop a large and curious wooden barrel, her great ancestors’ story is played out. At times, the tale seems too dense and frenetic for one narrator as she inhabits up to sixteen characters while punctuating her monologue with comments from her current self. Expect donkey impressions, avian conversations, French children who need to pee and clichéd American slave owners. This is entertaining and fun physical theatre which insists on being unexpected and resourceful, even if it gets away from you at times.

From finger puppets to tricky fingers it was on to magic with Morgan and West Clockwork Miracles. These guys get tighter and tighter every year and their slick, stylised show is always a Fringe treat. Our loquacious Victorian duo teach us the proper etiquette of drinking tea while demonstrating some mind-reading. There are three of four tricks which are simple, snappily-presented and full of whimsy and today they certainly hit the right spot with the audience whose raucous appreciation drowned out our waistcoat-clad duo several times.

Mr Morgan and Mr West

The Magical Adventures of Pete Heat was a very different magic show. Pete is all smiles and charm and possess an absurd sense of comedy which exudes a semi-intentional sense of disorganisation. Off-the-wall humour and silliness is at the heart of this show ; there’s shuffling a loaf of bread and an affluent monocle-wearing weasel. His magical adventure features all manner of card magic and a neat trick of manipulating audience members which would have had more impact had it felt less frenetic and bitty. The closing trick involves underpants which can only be a good thing.

Doug Segal: How to Read Minds and Influence People bursts with energy and there’s a keen interest in involve the audience in his routines. With a background in advertising and psychology, Doug whisks his way through his performance to appreciative applaud. Mind-reading shows are of a certain ilk; novels and dictionaries are distributed to audience members and our host is able to pluck seemingly impossible words from their minds. This is fun and Doug relies on interaction with his crowd, keeping them intrigued. A special moment arrives when he is able to teach one volunteer how to read the minds of three other spectators.

Tomorrow… to the Underbelly.