Hi all

A very good week this week. Just confirmed a wonderful job in China where I will be performing for the Royal Family of Monaco for a special event. Very excited about that. On Friday night I did a great corporate job. Actually I was called in at the last minute as the original act cancelled on them. He had confirmed the gig, then decided a better one had come along and cancelled, without even finding them a replacement. A really bad business move on his part, because this job has lead to quite a bit more work for me. It turned out the owner of the venue, an event center, watched my show, and afterwards wanted my years schedule. Good for me, not so good for the guy who cancelled the gig at the last minute.

I'm finishing up in a week or so my new book "The Real Deal"- Survival Guide For Magicians. What started as a little booklet has now turned in to a huge 350 page book! The stories have been coming flooding in - I have put the deadline down for one more week, so if you wish to have a story published, a tip or hint then please email me now at info@paulromhany.com OR paul@chaplinmagic.com

CHRIS COX REVIEW

Chris Cox - Fatal Distraction


On Monday night, a group of friends and I went to see a brand new show at the Auckland Comedy Festival, by UK Mentalist Chris Cox. We had all seen Chris two years ago when he was a headline act, and so were extremely excited to see his new show. I'm pleased to say he did not disappoint. What sets Chris apart from most other acts at these comedy festivals is that he doesn't have to rely on swearing to get embarrassed laughter. His show is incredibly smart, very well thought out, and one of the best productions of a mentalism show I have seen. He comes across as a charming, quirky guy, and has no problem getting people on stage to help him out.

He has no hecklers because you don't feel like you want to heckle him. I found this interesting because having watched a few other comedy shows, I now realized that many of them invite people to heckle them due of the abuse they give the audience. I can see why his show was voted the best Comedy Show in the UK by Venue Magazine! It's a show everybody will enjoy, and not offend
anybody. That will be one of the many reasons he travels the world with his show.


Aside from the original effects in the show, Chris's skill is in weaving a story throughout the fifty minute performance. He
comes up with unique themes that are intertwined, and at the end all come together. It contains everything that makes a great
play; an opening, middle and strong closing.

To list each routine would take too much time, and I could not do it justice, suffice to say everything he did had an original
twist. There were no store bought mentalism tricks here!

A few personal highlights included:-
His Drawing Duplication with three people from the audience which built to a very strong climax, and came as quite a surprise. His
energy keeps the show moving along at a very fast pace, and each routine flows in to the other. During the fifty minute show,
Chris took us all on an emotional roller coaster ride. It reminded me of watching a Chaplin movie, where one minute you are
laughing and the next you have a tear in your eye. While it is a comedy festival, and the majority of comedy acts are out to make
us laugh, Chris takes us on a journey with his mentalism. A lesson for every performer in how to structure a very strong
one-person show. He brought 'theatre' in to mentalism, and at the end you wanted more.

One of the strongest moments in the show involved an older couple holding a newspaper. Without giving the effect away, because it's something that you need to see, he was able to create a very special moment, and something everybody was talking about after the show. Perhaps what made it so unique was his use of the stage, lighting, and silence to create a wonderful theatrical
moment. You could hear gasps from the crowd the moment the 'effect' happened.

His Q&A was very different, and unlike any other Q&A I had seen. It was so strong that for a minute there I believed he was really
reading minds! His energy is very high, and he is constantly building each 'piece' to a frenzy where the outcome is mind-blowing mentalism at its best. The Q&A got the entire audience involved and kept them all on the edge of their seats.

The finale of the show reminded me of the ending of movie, The Usual Suspects, where right at the end everything that happened
during the movie, or in this case the show comes together, and you get that 'Damn I didn't see that coming' moment. It was
certainly an incredibly well scripted, well produced show, and highly entertaining and mystifying show.

While Chris tells the audience he 'is a mentalist who can't read minds,' I am sure that there were audience members that night who left that theatre believing he could. Having seen several other comedy acts at this festival, the new Chris Cox Show - Fatal
Distraction was by far the highlight for us all.

Chris takes his show to the Wellington Comedy Festival then prepares for his upcoming US TV series. 

At the show L-R - Richard Webster, Paul, Chris Cox, Alan Watson

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