Conjurer means a person, “who as if by magic brings into existence or causes something to appear with rapid movements of the hands.”
And that is exactly what Josh Staley offered us when appearing at the Melbourne Magic Festival.
In this stage performance Josh had many members of the audience as subjects of his sleight of hand and dexterity in creating situations that seemed impossible.
It is said that magic is about crafting a moment in time, that one should never forget witnessing. Such was the case where a large balloon was burst and a bottle of wine apeared.
A $5 note was taken from an audience member who signed it before Josh cut it up. Only moments later the signed note reappeared fully intact.
With a pack of playing cards strewn across the floor and picked up at random by audience members, resulted in Josh identifying the cards without fault.
So there was a lot more to wonder about, tricks with shoes, correctly identifying people’s birthday, day and months while testing our curiosity with a numbers game that resulted in something that would seem impossible, that is identifying an audience member’s pin numbers.
He is truly an international performer, a Guinness world record holder for the ” longest magic show”.
Be careful if he asks you for money. Will you see it again?

• Review by Graeme McCoubrie