Blog Post
Critics are saying... 'LIVE in YOUR Living Room' is a success
Gareth White • Aug 10, 2020
Reviews of the Edinburgh Fringe show 2020
Funny and interactive kids’ magic show with Magic Gareth
Low Down
An entertaining session of magic and tomfoolery for kids with great special effects
Review
Last year Magic Gareth presented ‘Man Vs Balloon: The Family Magic Show’ at CC Blooms as part of the Free Fringe. With Edinburgh Fringe online this year, Gareth has developed a new show that reaches through the Zoom screen to engage the kids at home in his magic.
The show starts with a countdown so that kids can get ready. There is a cute opening with a Pac-Man-style video game character. An avatar named Cookie, Magic Gareth’s online assistant, begins the presentation with a mind reading game, which is quite clever.
Magic Gareth then appears in the traditional top hat and magician’s vest. After warming up the audience, he has the kids doing magic with him, teaching them magic words. There are some old stand-by tricks, some close up magic, and the obligatory balloon animal.
What sets this show apart from other online kids events are the production values and his vibrant personality. The virtual set is very colourful and attractive. He effectively uses animation and sound effects. Magic Gareth take common props to a new level with contemporary references. He has lots of energy, bright eyes, and good facial expressions.
This is an interactive family magic show. Doing a Zoom show is challenging. Magic Gareth has some good strategies to cultivate participation. He instructs kids keep their cameras on, telling them that he will request people to unmute at various points. He has everyone unmute their Zooms to make noise, then mutes them when he is delivering a routine. All the time everyone can see each other, which adds to the sense of audience energy.
It’s all wrapped up in a neat 35 minutes that the little ones will enjoy.
Published August 3, 2020 by Patricia Silver
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by Donald Stewart
August 7, 2020
Fringe Online 2020
Low Down
Magic Gareth provides an online children’s magic show that has lost none of its luster to provide us with a magical experience that runs through mentalist tricks, disappearing hankies, badly built (by design) balloon animals, a game of higher or lower and the cloak of invincibility. A feast of misdirection and illusion, it takes that which should be close up and socially distances it with aplomb.
Review
I have always thought that to do magic, you need to sell it well. To be successful it needs a big personality behind it to tell the story, drive the narrative and make it all happen, in front of our very eyes. Magic Gareth has it in bucket loads. There is a clear and authentic voice working its way into the magic as he clearly loves the job of entertaining children.
I would perhaps have liked a better overview narrative that would have held it all together better as the holiday choice was good but trying to get away and why would have strengthened the whole process. Having said that, you know what, I am old and wrinkly, and the fresh faced in the audience seemed not to mind one jot! The interaction was well done and the way this was developed as an interactive online experience heightened its effect considerably.
I did like the way that the graphics and Cookie were used at the beginning, the scene behind him gave him the perfect platform and the use of Alexa in one of the audience’s home was a neat way of getting people to be enthralled.
Whilst I do love kid’s stuff, I cannot overdose on them too much in one day, but I shall certainly be looking out for Magic Gareth when the lockdown is finally done. He has a way of keeping children enthused whilst not being condescending but still playing homage to the traditions of his craft.
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Fringe children's show review: Magic Gareth - Live in Your Living Room
Gareth White – aka Magic Gareth – has successfully reinvented himself as an online act, writes Kelly Apter
Magic Gareth: A Natural Showman
Children’s Show: Magic Gareth – Live in Your Living Room ****
Whole articles have been written about how tiring Zoom can be – so hats off to Gareth White (aka Magic Gareth) for flooding our living rooms with energy via the computer screen. Ordinarily, White would deliver his show in person, wowing families with his close-up magic. But, having recognised that online will be the preferred platform for some time, he’s reinvented himself.
Since April, Magic Gareth has performed over 300 virtual shows, bringing much-needed joy to locked-down parties. Some of that joy is generated by children enjoying a shared experience in one "room” – and much the same can be said for this show.We’re asked to consider keeping our cameras on, and while there’s no pressure to do so, a definite spark comes from seeing other families react and interact. White is a natural showman, boisterousness and fun yet warm and friendly when eliciting help with a trick.
The tricks themselves, like all the best magic, fall largely into the “how on earth did he do that?” category. Items appear, disappear or change colour and some clever mind-reading takes place. Magic that goes “wrong” leads to great call-backs later, and the whole thing is neatly wrapped up before anyone can fall foul of Zoom fatigue. Kelly Apter
Magic Gareth Live! – Review
August in Scotland. The only four days of sun you’ll experience, no one seems to be wearing a shirt and of course the much beloved or dreaded Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Well… perhaps not this year. Or just maybe, with a little bit of luck and determination, a certain few will shine through and stage their own events. A local favourite, Gareth White has taken to digital performances throughout Lockdown, conducting well over 300 shows. Now, Magic Gareth Live! seeks to deliver that quality Fringe experience to newcomers and a few dab-hands.
Now, remember, if you can’t figure out the trick – well, that’s half the fun. Gareth’s repertoire primarily concerns the classics, with a couple of unique or digital twists (extra points for the Disney references). Chiefly aimed for the tots of the home, Gareth’s charismatic style is evidently targeting the family bracket, but don’t let those puns fool you – there’s some wit behind those cheeky grins. It’s entertainment for everyone, with enough back and forth discussion to involve adults and equally capture their sense of awe.
A compact routine, just over half an hour, Magic Gareth Live! fills a tremendous amount of jovial fun into the timeslot, more than enough to set those imaginations ablaze for the rest of the day. Personal, the Zoom feature shows Gareth control of the room, including any kids who want to get involved and have their days made or allowing those quieter tots to branch out a little and still involve themselves in their own way.
What’s particularly wonderful is Gareth’s refusal to cop-out a cheap get-away with a green screen. It’s there as a projection tool, to create a charming spellcaster’s locale rather than offer quick illusions or short-cuts in the magic. Technical wizardry only makes a brief appearance in a couple acts, while the remainder of Gareth’s set is a fine welcome to the world of the mystical as any tiny ones can hope for (and a way for the old fans to brush-up).
Sleight-of-hand, sleeves, and top hats, and even a jolly holiday – Magic Gareth Live! is a Fringe-lite experience without dealing with the crowds, heat, and expensive baked potatoes. Ideal for kids stuck at home, struggling to find a sparkle in their day-to-day activities, this live experience may be precisely the sort of jolt of energy they require.
Magic Gareth Live! is performing daily at 11am from August 2nd – August 9th. Tickets can be purchased from: https://www.magicgareth.co.uk/live2020
And if you’re feeling social, why not give Magic Gareth a follow on Facebook
?
Posted in: Review
, Theatre
Tagged: COVID
, Digital
, Edinburgh
, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
, Fringe
, Fringe 2020
, Gareth White
, Live
, Lockdown
, Magic
, magic Gareth
, Magician
, Online
, Review
, Scotland
, Theatre
, Zoom
August in Scotland. The only four days of sun you’ll experience, no one seems to be wearing a shirt and of course the much beloved or dreaded Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Well… perhaps not this year. Or just maybe, with a little bit of luck and determination, a certain few will shine through and stage their own events. A local favourite, Gareth White has taken to digital performances throughout Lockdown, conducting well over 300 shows. Now, Magic Gareth Live! seeks to deliver that quality Fringe experience to newcomers and a few dab-hands.
Now, remember, if you can’t figure out the trick – well, that’s half the fun. Gareth’s repertoire primarily concerns the classics, with a couple of unique or digital twists (extra points for the Disney references). Chiefly aimed for the tots of the home, Gareth’s charismatic style is evidently targeting the family bracket, but don’t let those puns fool you – there’s some wit behind those cheeky grins. It’s entertainment for everyone, with enough back and forth discussion to involve adults and equally capture their sense of awe.
A compact routine, just over half an hour, Magic Gareth Live! fills a tremendous amount of jovial fun into the timeslot, more than enough to set those imaginations ablaze for the rest of the day. Personal, the Zoom feature shows Gareth control of the room, including any kids who want to get involved and have their days made or allowing those quieter tots to branch out a little and still involve themselves in their own way.
What’s particularly wonderful is Gareth’s refusal to cop-out a cheap get-away with a green screen. It’s there as a projection tool, to create a charming spellcaster’s locale rather than offer quick illusions or short-cuts in the magic. Technical wizardry only makes a brief appearance in a couple acts, while the remainder of Gareth’s set is a fine welcome to the world of the mystical as any tiny ones can hope for (and a way for the old fans to brush-up).
Sleight-of-hand, sleeves, and top hats, and even a jolly holiday – Magic Gareth Live! is a Fringe-lite experience without dealing with the crowds, heat, and expensive baked potatoes. Ideal for kids stuck at home, struggling to find a sparkle in their day-to-day activities, this live experience may be precisely the sort of jolt of energy they require.
Magic Gareth Live! is performing daily at 11am from August 2nd – August 9th. Tickets can be purchased from: https://www.magicgareth.co.uk/live2020
And if you’re feeling social, why not give Magic Gareth a follow on Facebook
?
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