Pete Firman – TriX

With TriX, Middlesbrough-born magician Pete Firman is celebrating his 10th year at the Fringe, having become a festival stalwart in that time. It's easy to see why as he comes up with the goods year after year, putting on a satisfyingly different showcase of his magical talents each time.

As ever in his shows there's plenty of audience interaction. If you don't want to be involved or have something from about your person swiped for a trick be sure not to sit on the first two rows or on an aisle. 

Aside from the magic skills, what makes Firman's shows so enjoyable is that his is a charming, cheeky presence. Despite his obvious talent there's nothing cocky about him: he employs a pleasingly self-deprecating humour, for example when selecting a giant of a man out to help him with a trick, creating a nice visual contrast as Firman's not the tallest of fellas himself. His comedy is oldschool, full of self-conscious innuendo. There's a juicing gag with a reference to squeezing oranges between his thighs—“Pete's pulp” anyone?—and elsewhere there are hoary old cracker jokes necessitating a glass of milk being passed in front of an audience member's eyes. Pasteurised. Geddit?

They shouldn't work but the fact is, in Firman's hands, they do, and the combination of all these elements makes for a dazzling banker of a show.