Review: TOM BRACE: A TRICK DOWN MEMORY LANE, Pleasance London

“It was a very lonely time growing up as a magician”

The introduction of Tom Brace: A Trick Down Memory Lane was a fascinating one in which a disembodied voice recounts the time when Derren Brown played Russian Roulette live on television, creating a controversy not only in the world of magic but in general. As the voice says, “History has a tendency to repeat itself,” and Brace took to the stage, declaring that he was going to perform the same trick for the audience. 

Even though the show starts with an interesting concept of live Russian Roulette, one is quickly reminded that the show is made for families and will not actually introduce any sort of risk, with the gun being replaced by six Nerf guns and a 10-year-old being the one pulling the trigger. The set is meant to look like Brace’s childhood room where he practiced magic, but little of it is actually utilised and there is not much of a narrative other than his general desire to become a magician. 

The audience at Pleasance was an odd mix of families with children, young adults drinking and older couples chatting together, making for a difficult mix for Brace to win over. One of the child decided that they were going to be the resident heckler, jeering at Brace and calling out during any moments of silence that were meant to be full of suspense.  Most of the tricks were interesting, but some were questionable, with one simply being Brace building a tower of cards. I would have loved to see more performative magic, possibly some he learned as a child. 

One aspect of the show that grew incredibly frustrating was the amount of fakeouts within it, including ones that went on for quite a while with a promise that it wasn’t a fakeout this time. The first fakeout was impressive, the second was amusing and the third was too much. 

Ultimately, Tom Brace: A Trick Down Memory Lane is a show with an interesting concept of childhood and magic but struggles to capture the interest of the audience. I would have liked to see the show make a solid choice on whether it was a show about Brace’s childhood or a show about the danger of live magic in a family-friendly show. 

Tom Brace: A Trick Down Memory Lane ran at Pleasance London on 4 November.