Back at Ayers House (but in the intimate Library room) the audience is transported to an old shop full of antiquities and curios. Local magicians Jamie Ramzan (one half of ‘Suspension of Disbelief’) plays the older, wiser curator of the shop while Baenedict Thievenathan is the other half of the duo – and is Jamie’s understudy. Indeed, after a welcoming introduction and commencement of the storyline, Jamie asks the audience to suspend their disbelief for the next passage of time and take in the curious magical objects of the shop (in addition to the magical and mystifying skills of the show performers!) The story and the strong magical talents of each performer make this show shine. Despite the ‘master’ and ‘understudy’ roles I felt each performer was equally matched in skill and storytelling efforts. Great effort was taken to draw the audience in, so that rather than it being the audience vs stage the line was blurred between audience and stage…

Without giving too much away, over the course of the show the greater storyline is referenced regularly so the audience doesn’t have a chance to get lost among all the magic that unfolds in front of them (and trust me when I say there are some strong pieces of magic in this show!) There’s so much to enjoy within ‘Suspension of Disbelief’ especially when the show covers many styles of magic. During the course of the show I heard gasps of surprise, saw shaking of heads and there was even a moment of tension where it seemed like time slowed down, with the whole room completely silent.

At the end of the show, when the story was done, I felt like all the audience members had been on a journey with each other and the magical hosts. It was a nice feeling which held it’s own warmth

VERDICT: A charming show in an intimate parlour setting, that will have you talking and thinking well after the show has ended. Suspend your own disbelief and get swept away in the story and magic of this immensely enjoyable show. I can only ‘Suspension of disbelief’ return for another chapter next year.

*Disclaimer: I attended this show as a Fringe passholder

Tickets / more info:https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/suspension-of-disbelief-af2020