WHY MAGIC? *****

Daniel Cremin is every bit the showman is his solo show WHY MAGIC?, an autobiographical piece of theatre about the origins of his love for magic, and the steps it takes to become yourself.

Cremin's act is charming and meticulous. He knows exactly what the show is and clearly relishes in its playfulness and humanity. The sleight of hand magic is head-scratching and teasing. You watch him make a ball disappear and then your eyes are on that hand and a subtle movement throws you off focus entirely. He is a compelling magician and the magic act alone would be worth the price of admission.

But, thrillingly, Cremin's show is more than that. His invocation of psychological tricks draws a beautiful parallel between the art of magic and the art of theatre. He lets us into the world of his childhood, lovingly recreating his home, his first encounter with Paul Daniels' magic. He takes us back to his primary school classroom with all the savagery and unknowingness that space can have, bullies and all. When Cremin describes a bookshop, you can almost smell it and you are always compelled by the specifics of his inner life.

Cremin plays beautifully with the implicit social contract between magician and audience. In the magic show, we are befuddled, confused and lied to. In the theatre show we are told the truth. And the formal interweaving of these two poles leads to an engaging hour where you sympathise during the magic show. Like the childhood Cremin you are vulnerable then astounded, and led to believe in the power of magic as a medium.

The language of magic and the language of theatre are playfully revealed to be the same thing. Both have tension, release, highs and lows through an hour. Both work with attention, as well as the aforementioned psychology. A senior magician gives Cremin a thread and tells him to construct a show using it, and the message the thread was hiding all along is moving on theatrical and personal levels.

This is a beautiful hour of theatre. It has a sleight of hand you surely couldn't resist, and ought to have a further life.