Nicholas J Johnson is known as ‘Australia’s honest con man’ and is billed as a liar, cheat and swindler. You’d think that a performer would take offense to such a description, however Nicholas seems pleased with this and presents his show with a friendly ‘professor-like’ demeanour.

Nicholas discusses the concepts of short (small) and long (big) cons during his show, utilising plenty of audience participation and humour along the way . Nicholas has perfected the art of ‘swindle with a smile’ as many of his helpers from the audience were smiling and laughing in disbelief once they’d discovered that Nicholas had silently cheated them out of the object they were told to hold onto. Despite the perhaps serious topic of cheats and scams, this was a light hearted and enjoyable show. If nothing else, make sure you attend the show to find out what’s within Nicholas’ mysterious briefcase I can tell you it is not his magical briefcase! You’ll have to watch the show to find out.

I’m not sure what I expected from this show, but I left feeling a little more educated, entertained and fascinated and no one can swindle me of that! The show runs until Saturday July 8th.
Info and Tickets: http://melbournemagicfestival.com/the-confidence-artist/