The gentle genius of Dado is brought to younger audiences in A Frayed Knot, although there seemed to be more adults than children in attendance, such is the universal appeal of this extremely popular performer. The venue only seats a hundred and this performance was sold out, which is a clear indication that booking early is vital.
This Hunchback of Lotsa Charm presents a highly visual performance, with some few words where needed, and wordless verbalisations at other times that convey his meaning precisely, all in a high pitched voice. He is a true master of facial expressions and body language.
From the moment that he began his opening bug-eyed bug routine, he had the audience in the palm of his hand, and that is where he kept it for a full hour, well over the forty minutes advertised, responding to repeated requests for yet one more bit of fun from his magic suitcase.
There is a child-like innocence with a touch of cheekiness to this loveable hunchback character that endears him to his audiences, young and old alike. His appearance in the evening show, Prohibition, is as successful as this children's performance and, in fact, a couple of the routines appear in both shows. That is fine as they are worth seeing more than once.
A number of the segments involve balloons, but don't expect anything as trite as a couple of twists to produce something looking vaguely like a dog. Dado is far more skilled and inventive than that, but I'll say no more as that would spoil some of the surprises.
Some lucky youngsters were invited up to take part in the performance so, if you have kids, the front row is a good place to sit if they want to be involved, and he had no shortage of willing helpers. Don't worry, you big kids, adults are not excluded from participating in his hilarious antics. He has something for everybody, and a widely varied range of entertaining nonsense and very clever magic tricks. The apparent simplicity of what he does, and the ease with which he does it, belies the exceptional skill behind his performance.
If you have kids and don't take them to this show then you could be accused of child abuse, so don't take risks, take the kids to see this exceptionally innovative and delightful performance. You'll be glad that you did.
Anything can happen.
Work this one out.
