Edinburgh Fringe 2015
Poet of the Impossible
: Renz Novani
Genre: Magic and Mentalism
Venue: Spotlites
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
“Renz Novani: Poet of the Impossible. Card magic, illusion and sleight of mind bound by carefully weaved words. This is an intimate, eloquent performance of impossible magic that will leave you spellbound and speechless. Expect audience involvement and moments of wonder.”
Review
In the run up to the end of Festival fireworks, Lorenzo Novani invited us into the intimate basement theatre space at Spotlites. This is a small enough venue to really allow you to get close up to this pleasing hour of magic and a bit of mentalism.
Lorenzo Novani is a friendly, witty and eloquent man. He is also a fine magician, a bit of a comedian and now, in this show a poet. The blending of magic and poetry is a neat combination and largely works, though there is scope to blend it all together even more. He interacts well and skilfully with the audience throughout and no one was made to feel embarrassed. We were treated always as if we were intelligent, and also necessary to the show and its carefully crafted magic. The poetry, engaging though it was, sometimes felt a bit too detached from the magic part of the show.
There’s plenty of audience involvement and the card magic was visually a treat, as we were so close to it. Novani is more than adept at sleight of hand but it was when he literally defied gravity that we all gasped.
In places the show felt a bit rushed. This was the last day of the Fringe and the poetry needed to slow down a little. That said, the poetry added an intriguing mood to the proceedings as words also formed part of the magic. The audience enjoyed every moment and the variety of tricks meant the hour zoomed by and we were left wanting more. Lorenza Novani has woven together some very informative and interesting narratives around his tricks and we learn some gems along the way. Overall, this was an enjoyable and thoroughly satisfying way to end a month at the Fringe and I am happy to recommend this to anyone who wants to experience magic with a poetic flavour. It all felt a bit different, in the best possible way.
