Derren Brown's Unbelievable - a review

[Tarotist]

It sounds like a 6 out of 10 show if it were being given marks. Not a flop but not a runaway success either. I don't know how long it is running for but it will probably improve with time.

[Tom Moore]

"Critical Flop" is not the phrase I would use when a show is getting three our of four (or five) stars. "Critical flop" is one or two stars. None of the reviews you cite have given the show that low of a rating. "Fair to middling" is the expression I would use, and a more accurate one.

For a plucky team of 7 actor/musicians (several fresh out of school) to get those reviews for their own created show would be fine...

When the precise creative team who for almost 20 years have created the UK's highest rated magic shows that won all the major awards, garnered high ratings and sold out almost constantly team up with a producer who single-handedly turned "The Play That Goes Wrong" from a tiny fringe low budget comedy night into a global empire that has created the most successful comedy play in history and spawned multiple spin-offs, to combine the expectations are high. When they boast a show that's supposed to be new, innovative, exciting and the best work they've ever created and the reviews for that are a consistent 3 stars with the core concepts and production/creative elements being the part that is singled out as being the weakest link all whilst struggling to sell out one of the smallest theatres in the west end that really is a critical and possibly (unfortunately) a commercial flop based on the creators own works surely?

I wish the show well, i wish it had been a success but......

[AJM]

Tom

I’m sure, with a little more effort, you could have made your main paragraph just one sentence long. Stretching it out to two seems excessive in my view.



All the best!

Andrew

P.S. I agree with your opinion here.

I also question why Derren, who is not thought of by the public, certainly in the UK, as ‘a magician’, would want to put his name above a magic show.

As far as I understand, Derren himself consciously distanced himself from being regarded as a magician.

[CraigMitchell]

And so it begins.

50 GBP tickets are now being discounted to 15 GBP

[Tarotist]

It sounds a bit on the lukewarm side.

[CraigMitchell]

Promo material for the show has now been re-done ...

Derren's name and image have all been scrubbed - no longer "Derren Brown presents" ... face/hands all removed ...

[Richard Stokes]

" I remember some time ago there was a Shakespearian play in London (I think MacBeth) that got terrible reviews and because of the bad reviews the theatre was packed every night because people wanted to see if the play was as bad as it was reputed to be."

This was Peter O'Toole's attempt at Macbeth in 1980 at the Old Vic.

The critics raved:

Gruesome. -- The Times

Heroically ludicrous. -- The Daily Mail

A roaring-boy performance by Peter O'Toole that is about as subtle as a battering-ram -- The Guardian

Chances are he likes the play, but O'Toole's performance suggests that he is taking some kind of personal revenge on it. -- The Observer

Don't trust those reviews. The spectacle is far worse than has hitherto been made out, a milestone in the history of coarse acting. -- Sunday Times

So bad, it sold out and made lotsa money.

[CraigMitchell]

Tickets are now available on the "rent-a-crowd" services for 12 GBP ...

[AJM]

I passed the theatre in London yesterday and see that, while Derren Brown’s name does not appear above the marquee, ‘Derren Brown Presents’ is still on the posters at the front of the house.

Andrew

[CraigMitchell]

They ironically never bothered to change them. FOH is still using the old posters.

[Richard Stokes]

Apologies, but I really enjoyed the show. Especially the impressive opening effect and the baffling closing climax. The music was great. The cast were excellent. And their spectator selection was top notch. Recommended. Don't be put off by the mixed reviews.

[Tarotist]

I stay in a lot of hotels and sometimes I see bad reviews of them and become reluctant to book. However, when I get there I find nothing wrong with them and they are often quite excellent. Sometimes you just have to ignore the reviews and see for yourself.

[CraigMitchell]

As predicted - ticket sales have been suspended on the website from 7 Jan ... show looks set to shutter three months early.

[Brad Henderson]

It’s sad to me (and reinforces so many of my beliefs) to see someone rooting for the failure of a magician trying to something actually new.

Reference my comments on how magic contests and fism especially are backwards looking and actively discourage innovation - I’m not surprised to see who’s rooting for the failure of an attempt at actual innovation.

[CraigMitchell]

"actual innovation"

Brad, if you believe that actively seeking NOT to employ magicians for a magic show is good for magic - or somehow constitutes "innovation" - then you are sorely mistaken.

The show was a mess and the box office confirms that.

Don't lose sight of the fact that we were promised a show that would "redefine magic" ... that never materialized.

I feel sorry for the cast ... but this experiment was bad for magic. And if it had worked - would have resulted in a plethora of copycat shows replacing actual magicians (with actual skill and personality) with easily replaceable low cost actors. That is not something to celebrate or to be "rooting for".

A conscious decision was made NOT to provide a showcase for other magicians and performers. Think about why ...

[Brad Henderson]

I’ll tell you why. Because most magicians are interchangeable copyists who could easily if not better be replaced by actors who actually have honed their artistic sensibilities by trying to find their own voices and not just trying to appeal to contest judges many of whom wouldn’t know art if it bit them on their assets.

At least Derren tried to do something new. I realize not seeing an act with countless balls and poorly timed interaction with an iPad screen must have been disappointing. Can we get someone to hide a lot of cards behind their hands for Craig.

[CraigMitchell]

>At least Derren tried to do something new.

But that's the inherent problem. They didn't try anything new. Unless hawking color vision boxes at interval is considered new? They didn't push any boundaries. The only 'innovation' was fixating on the bottom line and working out how they could have a low cost show which they could replicate easily without ever having to worry about pesky magicians (which is somewhat insulting to Derren's fellow performers and the art of magic in general)

>Because most magicians are interchangeable copyists who could easily if not better be replaced by actors

The box office says otherwise. Unbelievable was a flop and didn't resonate with audiences.

If you are going to have a magic show - you actually need magicians (interchangeable or otherwise) Such a novel concept - a magic show with magicians And thankfully audiences agreed.

[Tarotist]

Oh well----they tried. You can't win them all. In fact some of us can't win ANY of them!

[CraigMitchell]

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w ... 0649426172

Andy Nyman did a podcast which featured Unbelievable. Quite honest:

“We knew it was going to be hard but not this hard”
“It was agony”
“It was torture”
“It was painful”