HAD THE PLEASURE of travelling with John Styles to see Ian Keable’s touring One Man Show “Conjuring up Comedy”  and full marks for his sheer ability to stand alone on a stage with a rural audience of around a hundred and keep up a continuous flow of laughter and genuine entertainment for over two hours.

I purportedly do a comedy patter magic act but twenty minutes is about my limit but Ians’ accountancy trained needle-sharp brain can catch every audience nuance and humour opportunity brilliantly. This  allows for much off the cuff inter- action with the Surrey retired stockbrokers, golf club secretaries and others  in his audience who often are a hard group to crack. Dressed in a Threadneedle Street styled striped City suit he explained his transition from accountancy to conjuring and presented many classics of magic like the Die box, Chinese sticks,  Candle tube, Vanishing Silk in Glass, Electric Chair Routine as well as many of the known items from his standard act – Watch Routine, Dictionary Test, Cards Across and others.

Because of my prime interest in comedy and theatre I was delighted to see him succeed in laying down this excellent piece of theatre  on which to present his magic effects which all added up to two hours of sheer entertainment. Plus his awareness that there is nothing wrong with many of the magic effects of yesteryear which he uses rather than resorting to the latest from Blackpool. Conjuring is conjuring,

I understand his tour continues around the country but if you#re interested in seeing how to capture, hold and entertain a group of TV jaded elder folk, a trip to “Conjuring up Comedy” with Ian Keable would pay you handsome dividends, if you’re intent on becoming a better performer. It’s called professionalism. 

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