Scottish mentalist and self-proclaimed real-life Sherlock Holmes’ latest show did not disappoint; it left the audience mystified, awe-struck, and wondering if Colin Cloud really is telepathic. Colin Cloud: Hoax is a theatrical demonstration of Cloud’s ability to guess the unknowable about his audience, from embarrassing stories, birthdays, childhood memories and everything in between.
As the audience filed into the auditorium, Cloud was on an eerily lit stage cryptically playing chess alone; this game of prediction, anticipation, and knowing an opponent is clearly symbolic of Cloud’s unmatched skills of deduction. Having seen the entire spectacle, the performance, the set, posters, and brown envelopes all perfectly placed, Cloud’s magical flair comes from a baffling skill for probability, persuasion, and psychological insight that would have even sceptics scratching their heads.
Cloud was undoubtedly a showman, incredibly at ease in his act, all the while sporting his Scottish humour, charisma and his blazer full of tricks. With a title like Hoax, Cloud threads the fragile nature of modern reality into the fabric of the show, noting the growing significance of AI for altering our perception of supposed truths. In his show, Cloud tests the willingness to accept what is in front of us, inviting the audience to question his methods and teasing how he came to some of his mind-boggling conclusions. Yet even with answers about how he reads minute body-language details, you remain mystified. The most outstanding product of the show is how much it lingers, how Cloud produces an addictive quality where you want to uncover his magical methods, walking home in wonderment at how he knew your date of birth.
A personal highlight of the show was Cloud’s focus on how interconnected we all are; he was able to draw similarities between a room full of strangers. Making links between shared experiences, names and dates of significance across the room. Even with the diverse spectators at the Fringe, Cloud managed to sustain a moment of connection between a group of equally baffled individuals wondering how one man can break the barriers of the mind or, at the very least, make us think he can.
Colin Cloud: Hoax is running until 30 August at 33 Grand at Pleasance Courtyard. Buy tickets here.
Image by Titou Molard, provided to The Student for press use.
