Mario The Maker Magician

Mario The Maker Magician

Mario The Maker Magician Rating

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Mario “the Maker Magician” Marchese is a New York-based performer, author, and maker. He tours worldwide with his wife, producer, and children. He incorporates DIY electronics and robotics into his projects, using magic to inspire limitless creativity in children and families.

This is a fun and amazing show for the whole family. Mario is a dynamic performer. Larger than life, he commands the stage. Even on one of the hottest days in Adelaide, he still put on a stunning show. But I feel we are grateful as he sprays water about the venue, cooling and more sleight of hand.

The audience was totally engaged with Mario’s every move. The hand-made props add a gorgeous charm to the show. They remind you of the toys that children would make themselves with cardboard, paint, and sticky tape. It took me back to my childhood, and I imagine that a lot of the parents were remembering their childhood.

It was also relatable to the younger audience members, the arts and crafts they like to do on a rainy day. Magician David Blaine, whom he has toured with, has labelled Mario “the best kids’ magician in the world”. He has appeared on the “Sesame Street’ show and with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. Even David Copperfield has heaped praise on Mario.

The show revolved around robots that Mario had hand-built. There was a lot of audience participation in the show, and the kids loved it. The kids loved the magic, and so did the adults.

Mario touches on his favourite teachers and what they mean to him, reminding the audience that teachers have had a pivotal role in our lives. This is part of the misdirection. In fact, the show starts with some simple, sleight of hand tricks. They immediately draw the audience in. Mario has us all hooked. The pace accelerates, and more tricks are revealed. We are introduced to the simple but fun robots.

The pace of the production helps with the sleight of hand and misdirection, which are important in this show. Mario makes positive statements about children and how the simple act of getting up on stage as a volunteer is a brave moment in their lives. We should applaud this.

The audience’s reaction throughout the show is something to behold. I have never seen an audience so captivated, engaged, and incredibly noisy. He owns the venue, and he takes along his magic journey, meeting those who have influenced him, like Andy Warhol.

As the show progresses to the finale the strings of the story come together. And with an ending we did expect it comes to a close. We are left wanting more. Which is how all shows should end.

The takeaway from this fun, glorious production is “Follow your dreams”.

Performed by Mario “the Maker Magician” Marchese
Written by Mario and Katie Marchese
Produced by Katie Rosa Marchese and Chris Cox

To book tickets to Mario The Maker Magician, please visit https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/mario-the-maker-magician-af2025.

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Duel & Dual: Martial Arts Meets Magic

Duel & Dual

Duel & Dual Rating

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Setting the stage for competition, a bare black stage holds a red and green digital counting clock, and two chairs with identical trophies upon them. As each of the two magic champions seek to out-do the other, a playful battle for the ultimate title commences. Exploring the nuances between rivalry and camaraderie, Duel and Dual showcases the different yet complementary talents of both performers through illusionary magic, martial arts, and mime.

Close-up Magician, Tu Strange, and Stage Magician, Mu-Syuan Chang, take turns to impress the audience with their different skills and occasionally attempt to sabotage the other. Strange’s comedic and showman-like personality certainly allows him to engage up close with the audience, even including them directly in his tricks and inviting them to copy his movements to demonstrate their authenticity. He has no qualms exuberantly inviting people to join him onstage, including helping with a 52 card pick up, and often all but demanding a hug at the end of tricks without saying a word.

Chang is much quieter in demeanour yet no less talented, as he gracefully moves around the stage seemingly conjuring playing cards and coloured confetti from nothing. Accompanied by music, he almost dances as he displays incredible dexterity with various items which almost defy gravity.

Both dressed in black, the magicians almost seemed to blend into the background at times, allowing the magic of the moment to take precedence. While this wasn’t completely mimed, with a word or two uttered quietly to amusing effect, the lack of dialogue allowed all aspects of the visual spectacle to take centre stage. The alternating of acts between the performers gave the impression of gentlemen taking turns to attack rather than everything happening at once.

However, it would’ve been very exciting to have seen more of a fast-paced physical battle that utilised more of the martial arts, mime, and magic illusions together. The newfound friendliness at the end, while almost heartwarming, was a bit of an abrupt finish to the performance. There wasn’t much time allocated to working together, and there was certainly a missed opportunity of having them complimenting and helping one other’s acts in a friendly capacity rather than only as rivals.

The alternating red and blue lighting is cleverly employed in the opening few minutes of the show, highlighting the two very different competitors as dramatic foreshadowing to a serious showdown. To complement this, basic spotlighting and stage washes were utilised to great effect, as long as both performers were within in that light. The soundscape, alternating from dramatic instrumental to bursts of popular music, also felt appropriate given the contrasting personas of the performers and often allowed the music to speak for them.

Each magician commanded the small performing space in their own way, often making it feel bigger than it was – unless there was a call for audience participation; some of which could be difficult to see around the flat seating. There are also moments when it is unclear whether to applaud or to simply enjoy the spectacle in silence, particularly if you have never been to a magic show before.

Marketed as riveting tale of rivalry between champions, it operates more as a magic show in alternating styles that is loosely linked with friendly competition. A rigorously rehearsed show that encourages flexibility in audience involvement, this is a great night out for families looking for something different that’s away from the busyness of the popular Fringe gardens.

To book tickets to Duel & Dual, please visit https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/duel-dual-af2025

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Robin Hood: A New Family Musical

Robin Hood

Robin Hood Rating

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If you turn the corner in Malvern’s Central Park in the late morning, you’re greeted by winding ropes cordoning off islands to seat picnic blankets or chairs. You’ll also see set pieces straight from a primary school play: a tiny wooden island and cajón drum, green and brown paint-spattered cloths tied to trees, and details like fake rocks and a shelf of plastic food with the sign SHERIFFS PANTRY.

The team behind Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s Robin Hood uses this sequestered woody space to its fullest to craft a whimsical, ramshackle and original take on a classic story.

Robin (Billy Thomas), Dame Tuck (Jackson Cross) and Little Joan (Lucy May Knight) are going about their usual business of robbing the rich to feed the poor. But when they are caught stealing from the Sheriff of Nottingham (Kaia Reyes), he devises a new punishment: shipping them off to Australia.

There, the merry men, with the help of Bushranger Bruce (Daniel Hillman), must acclimatize to a strange new world and find their way back home. The beginning feels slow and the different scenes are somewhat disconnected and potentially difficult for a child audience to follow, but it was a pleasant surprise to see a slightly different narrative in a panto show.

 

The ensemble is charming and navigates their stage perfectly. Every line is audible, every slapstick gag is visible and tight, and every spectator gets close-up moments with the characters. Lucy May Knight as Little Joan stands out with a bubbly yet sharp physicality that’s perfect for panto.

The world-building was also fantastic at blending a familiar and fun Aussie context into a classic story. The adorable Australian animal puppets were a highlight, while all the pop culture references and self-referential jokes landed well with the adult audience.

Maxwell Simon’s (Muriel’s Wedding) original score is fun and full of laugh-out-loud lines, but there was only one song where the children were directly encouraged to play along. It felt like the whole show missed out on many opportunities for audience participation, and this led to some clear confusion and lost attention among the kids at some points.

While Robin Hood has its moments of missed potential, it’s definitely a worthwhile and unique experience for the theatre-loving family. It’s a scrappy, feel-good show that keeps the much-loved traditions of panto alive in a timeless yet modern story for an audience of all ages.

To book tickets to Robin Hood, please visit https://www.melbourneshakespeare.com/robinhood

Photography: Sare Clarke Photography

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Maori Mini Film Festival: Walking Between Worlds

Tuia Ngā Here

Tuia Ngā Here Rating

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It was a real pleasure to review this soulful short film by Ngā Aho Whakaari as part of the Maori Short Film Festival and not just because it’s so impressive to see filmmakers who can create something so beautiful, with such incredible production values, on a small budget.

Exploring important themes of land and belonging – environmental protection, the preservation of cultural identity and intergenerational familial relationships – we are introduced to 16-year-old Hiwa who returns home from boarding school to discover her beloved grandfather, the local ‘land legend’, is seriously ill and unable to tend to the forest he has spent his life protecting.

Whilst her younger brother Pōtiki, who has clearly inherited his grandfather’s deep affinity for the ‘whenua’ (land), is determined to follow in his Korua’s footsteps, Hiwa struggles to integrate her simple, traditional values with the ‘modern’ world she inhabits at school.

Both children wrestle with the shifting dynamics in their family, and the darkly green and lush scenery is a beautiful but ominous metaphor, reflecting both Hiwa and Pōtiki’s realisations of the importance of their new roles as the next generation of guardians for the land and their family.

This film was part warning, part love letter to land and culture. As someone who has a deep connection to land myself, it was an invitation to recognise the ways in which we are called to stand as protectors for that to which we ‘belong. ‘ It’s definitely one to watch.

To book tickets to the Maori Mini Film Festival, please visit https://www.bunjilplace.com.au/events/maoriland-film-festival

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.