Israeli magician Asi Wind, known for his award-winning solo shows and several television appearances (most notably Penn & Teller’s ‘Fool Us’ in which his trick has over 16 million views on YouTube) has now landed in London’s West End for a 12 week run of his new show ‘Incredibly Human’. This was my first trip to Soho’s dazzling new cabaret venue Underbelly Boulevard and what a delightfully beautiful and intimate theatre it is. Tucked away in the bustling back streets of Soho, it’s a gem of a venue which has seen the interior gloriously designed and long may it reign.

Wind enters the stage and introduces his audience to the idea of being ‘incredible’, a slightly confusing premise that I thought would feature as a through line throughout the show but never really materialised again. He then recalls how he first found his love for magic when he bought a disappearing handkerchief trick from a magic shop and was in awe at how the illusion worked. It’s a highly interactive show and Wind constantly connects with his audience, wandering around the small auditorium choosing random members to join him on stage on several occasions. He is charming, at ease with his audience and commands the whole theatre wonderfully. When tricks or audience members go slightly off-piste, he never appears panicked and is so comfortable in his surroundings, making the audience feel at ease too. There’s the occasional word missed due to a slight lack of clarity in his diction but with his warm demeanour, it’s easily forgivable.

The tricks come thick and fast in this one act, near ninety minute piece and most of which are outstandingly performed. Memorising and relaying a shuffled deck of playing cards backwards or forwards is a jaw-dropping highlight along with a strong finale in which Wind correctly guesses and paints onto canvas an audience member’s chosen celebrity hero. There’s also clever Rubik’s cube solving, mind-reading envelope selection and a slightly strange clapping routine taken from a random spectator’s Spotify playlist. I’m still scratching my head over that trick in more ways than one.

He may not be using original ideas (how many times have we seen a magician reveal a Rubik’s cube or ask an audience member to choose a numbered envelope) but the tricks themselves have nice nuances to make them unique. It’s a slick production and races through at rapid pace, however the choice to not include an interval is a bizarre one. Two 45 minute halves would have been perfect for an evening out rather than cramming tricks into a one act piece. Maybe Wind realised how lengthy the show was as he disappeared so abruptly after a quick bow to leave the audience clapping an empty stage. He really should take the applause he spent so long and hard achieving.

A satisfying repeat of his disappearing handkerchief trick that he was first bought as a child makes for a fitting nostalgic ending to a beautiful, clean show from a man who is clearly a master of his craft. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Asi Wind in the future.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️