Simon Coronel regularly performs during the Melbourne Magic Festival, so I always make an effort to see his shows. Originally from Melbourne, Simon now lives in Los Angeles, California so it is even more exciting and wonderful to see his shows in Melbourne when he visits.

‘Things By Simon’ is a compilation of Simon’s most well known routines (featuring poker chips, and money folding) coupled with some fascinating observations of people, behaviour and magic. Particular highlights of this show for me were Simon’s stories from his time on Penn & Teller’s television show “Fool Us” (if you have not seen that routine, please promptly look it up right now!!!) and a very special piece of card magic that the entire audience had the chance to be involved in.

There are some aspects of Simon’s style that sets him far apart from the other magicians – his respect for the audience and practising ‘magic with consent’ (so no one has to assist him unless they really want to) and him seeking to find out which audience members treat magic as a puzzle to be solved vs those audience members (myself included here) who just want to be amazed / astounded and caught up in the magic itself.

It is clear that Simon puts an immense amount of effort and research into the magical “things” he presents to his audience. If you’re ever looking for a clever magic show that makes you think long after the show has ended then this is the show for you. I highly recommend you to see a show from Simon Coronel in the future if you can.