THEATRE BY FRANK McKONE
Jasan Mindmaster ESP Mindshow at UC Theatre, The Hub, University of Canberra. March 23 and 24, 8pm; March 25, 5pm; March 30, 8pm, March 31 2pm and 8pm; April 1, 5pm
With a willing suspension of disbelief, Jasan Savage’s stage illusions are thoroughly enjoyable.
He claims not to be a magician, proving the point by demonstrating to us what he could not do because he is not a magician, except that in doing so he does the trick anyway, proving that he is an accomplished magician. This kind of gentle humour is the key to a pleasant evening of an old-fashioned kind.
Those of us who know Savage as the UC Theatre’s director, as many on opening did, were surprised to discover his talent as magician and mind-reader, though not so surprised at his deliberately execrable jokes. In fact he began his career at the age of 18, worked with the famous The Great Franquin in the 1950s, and claims to hold the record for a solo artist in Australia by performing 65 straight weeks in Queensland, quoting a high recommendation from Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson “Your jaw will get sore from repeatedly hitting the floor.”
In my childhood days in the early 1950s there were performers like Jasan Mindmaster on television seemingly weekly in my native England, and I remember the sense of innocence, amazement and humour of those shows, unaware at that age of the Cold War and the growing threat of hot nuclear war. This ESP Mindshow took me back to that atmosphere, now in an age of a war on terror. The old tricks still work, as they have for centuries, taking our minds off harsh reality for an hour or two.
Savage does this particularly well by involving members of the audience throughout the show, in a completely non-threatening manner. The only warning for children is the opening story – The Eye by Edgar Allan Poe – which might cause nightmares, but otherwise the show is fun, though you might need a guide to find The Hub in the half dark of the UC campus.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
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