I have a 5 year old son, he loves magic...and at the moment is still at the glorious stage where he thinks magic is real (its very cute).
He will often ask me things like: “Daddy, I have run out of pringles, can you do your magics and fill them up for me?” or “This colouring is taking too long, can you use the magic and do it for me”.
As a magician myself he assumes that I can do “real magic”. He is very nonchalant about it, just assumes I can really do miracles for anything and everything!
I love doing little bits of magic for him, and over lockdown we done quite a few magic bits together for some videos to cure our boredom...here is an example of how normal he takes things…its everyday stuff for him!
My stage show is based for adults. Its primarily mind reading, hypnosis and aimed for adults. As a result he has never seen me perform in a stage setting, but is often asking to “come to work” with me.
I saw a Facebook Ad for Tom Braces show “Embrace the impossible”. It had a very nice promotional video, clearly a family show suitable for all ages. I instantly brought tickets for myself and my son; this would be his first formal magical experience. The tickets was £10 per person. A night out for a price of a couple of pints...I’m in!
I had taken him to see a pantomime a few months earlier...we left at half time as he was getting bored and restless, asking to leave. Kids eh?
He is at an age and in a generation where his attention span is around 30 seconds. So with the experience of the pantomime I knew it would be a risk!
I had personally never heard of Tom Brace before, and I consider myself to be fairly well connected in the magic industry...But the branding of the show and show reels really sold it to me, it was a no brainer. The show was fairly close to where we live at the Hanger Farm Arts centre.
We was the first to arrive, and saw Tom in the entrance briefly, he gave a very friendly “hey guys!” - straight away Finley asked “is that the magic man, Daddy?”
Well yes son, it is!
We had front row seats, and we were getting slightly nervous about a small turn out...however before the start time a flurry of people came and sat down ready to watch the show. A mix of families and all ages were present.
There was a very interesting set on the stage…”what's that daddy?”...That's an alarm clock Finley…”oh...what's that daddy?”...That's a bookshelf, son.
He was clearly very excited and the music and set really helped build the buzz.
The show started in a very energetic and highly funny fashion. In fact...I was creased up right from the start and Finley was clapping along with all the opening bits of banter. A really great start. I laughed more during this show than many others I can remember. A cheeky, dramatic and fun sense of humour flows through the performance.
Being in the front row, Finley was asked as the first person to go onto the stage and look after a prediction by sitting on it. Tom was very good at dealing with my son, who in this setting was a shy and nervous type (my son, not Tom!)
The show was great...watching my son's face and his reactions and enjoyment was just as good as the show (which was excellent)...Tom was really doing a great job of keeping everyone entertained with some really strong and engaging magic.
The main highlight for me was Tom's way of dealing with the participants, from adults to kids. His interactions were first class, VERY FUNNY and very entertaining. He certainly has a very capable way of dealing with unexpected events from the audience, and again, I can't stress this enough, very funny.
The music and tech throughout the show was also of a high standard and really added to the feel of the show, from sound effects to smoke filled boxes and fire...it had a wide range of effects that kept everyone thinking “what's going to happen next!”.
The structure of the show was really impressive, and was focused around Tom's childhood memories...the structure was consistent and engaging and unlike many magic shows which is just a collection of effects...this all made sense and had a clear plot leading to a great climax.
The show length was just over an hour, with no half time. I would say this was the perfect length of time.
It's very kids friendly, but impressively with lots of jokes and gags that have a more adult theme that go straight over the kids' heads...keeping everyone from kids to adults amused and smiling.
The selection of tricks was great...some really impressive magic with a wide range of props. From effects with ropes to mind reading, it has something for everyone.
My rating of this would be 5 out of 5 stars. Amazing value for money, a fantastic and well presented show.
After the show Tom went out to the entrance area and had a chat with anyone who wanted to speak to him, Finley wanted to speak to him straight away and again Tom was very charming and professional, speaking to kids on “their level”.
There was also a good selection of back of the room sales, with magic sets and the like for all those inspired kids to go away with a souvenir and maybe start pressing to be a magician themselves!
Myself and my son had a great experience watching Tom Braces show “embrace the impossible”
If you can get tickets...just do it!
You can see if he is near you and grab yourself some HERE
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