Doug Segal: I Can Make You a Mentalist

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Doug Segal isn't here to astound you with his own mental powers, oh no. Instead he's allowing one lucky member of his audience to wow the crowd with their own psychic abilities. It's probably just as well, because judging from the limp collection of mentalism routines on display here, Segal is no great shakes in the mind reading department.

Demonstrations of thought control, clairvoyance and telepathy fall distinctly flat, as Segal's gimmick forces him to perpetrate some seriously cheap misdirection to achieve him aims. There's not a single strong illusion, and far too many drawn out excuses for tricks that fail to land. Segal's patter is broken up by video inserts – some witty, some less so. If you've a nostalgia for the memes of yesteryear you'll be delighted by the extended Matrix gag. There's also an odd preoccupation with Uri Geller, who may be a more potent figure of ridicule for magicians than the general public. Even this is muddled, however, as Segal concludes with a spoon-bending trick that's even feebler than Geller's cutlery manipulations. Segal has an unstable stage presence, starting chatty and cheery but quickly diving into irritable when his hapless volunteers fail to adhere to his opaque instructions.

In a show that relies so heavily on repartee with a single audience member, Segal's approach to bonhomie needs a serious rethink. If you have any latent psychic ability you'll know to avoid this show already. For everyone else, consider this a warning.