Magic and sex… what could go wrong? On May 31, Kathryn Haywood took on the Brighton Fringe Festival with her new comedy magic show Magic & Sex at The Caxton Arms.
Not knowing what on earth to expect, I sat safely in the back row with my friend, neither of us
brave enough for the front-row-seat-experience. As it turned out, what we were in for was a
woman donning a top hat, a sequin-ed tailcoat and playing card leggings to run onto the
stage and give us an hour of classic magic tricks mixed with tongue-in-cheek jokes and a lot
of audience participation.
The hectic chaos of the show was part of the charm and had us laughing along with her
through the occasional slip ups and blunders as she worked through her first performance.
Her passion for performing shone through the entire time in such an endearing manner that
the whole audience was won over within a matter of minutes, providing laughs, cheers and
applause where needed. Her crowd work, in particular, was amazing – knowing just how to
play off of audience member’s personalities and circling back to certain audience favourites
at the perfect moments during the show.
From card tricks to fluffy pink handcuffs to Marti Pellow dopplegangers, this fringe show
really has it all. In her own words, “if you enjoyed the show, I’m Kathryn Haywood, if not, I’m
Katherine Ryan”, and I can confirm Kathryn Haywood was an absolute pleasure to watch. I
won’t spoil the showstopper trick, but it definitely earned Haywood a lengthy applause. I don’t
have the slightest clue how she managed to do it and it’s slowly driving me insane.
You can catch Haywood on tour around the rest of the UK up until August, where she’ll be
performing in locations such as Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol.
Address: The Caxton Arms, 36 North Gardens, Brighton and Hove, Brighton, BN1 3LB
MAGIC & SEX: Trailer
