Review: Theatre of Magic – Melbourne

On a lovely spring evening, I ventured into the city of Melbourne to enjoy a BRAND NEW monthly magic show to hit Melbourne’s buzzing magic scene: Theatre of Magic – Melbourne. The show is hosted within the upmarket inner CBD venue The Victoria Hotel, which is conveniently located near the theatre district and various themed late night bars. Theatre of Magic – Melbourne features a different duo of world class magicians each month and has the tagline “World class magic; 5 star hospitality”. This experience delivers in spades (pardon the pun) on both aspects. In fact, the premium 5 star service within this experience starts before the audience even makes it to the show, with an email appearing a couple of days prior to the event mentioning where to meet within the hotel (Vic’s Bar) on the night of the show along with the show runtime and suggestions of where to eat.

Upon arrival to The Victoria Hotel I headed to Vic’s Bar, enjoyed a beverage and was checked into the magic show by the event greeter. Suddenly one of Melbourne’s well known magicians, Nick Kay, appeared! Nick welcomed attendees to a side room of the bar, showcased one of his well polished close up effects and then ushered us downstairs to the magic theatre within the Victoria Room. One of the first aspects to impress me about this show (and there were many!!) was the theatre setup. Plush, comfortable chairs capped at an intimate 50 audience members per show, fanned out so that every seat had an amazing view of the magical action. It felt like each audience member had the best seat in the house. PLUS each seat was allocated to the booking name, with a name card on each seat. Gone are the days of lining up early for a magic show just to have a chance at getting a good seat – here, every seat is a great seat and your seat is already reserved for you. I felt like a VIP all night, which is a lovely feeling.

Opening the show for the evening was none other than Brisbane native Josh Norbido (also known as “hot Josh” from his time on Australia’s Got Talent). I’ve never seen Josh perform in real life and was delighted by his magical talents. Josh’s sleight of hand magic was very impressive (he practically vanished a phone into thin air!!) and full of surprises – especially his prediction finale which I think everyone should experience. Whilst Josh’s magic was top tier and very entertaining he’s also a master of surprise, regularly playing fun guessing games with the audience (where the audience frequently lost, but was rewarded with rounds of giggles and belly laughs). Josh set the bar high for the next magical star to appear for the evening.

The star of the evening’s show was local magic superstar Nick Kay. Nick is very well known in the Melbourne magic scene for his style of top shelf, premium magical entertainment that is ‘all killer and no filler’ and this performance was no exception. Nick’s sleight of hand skills are next level, especially in regards to coin and cards – but he’s also skilled at incorporating modern devices and nostalgic items into his thrilling magical routines. To top it off, Nick’s warm smile and playful personality makes each piece of magic even more enjoyable. If you haven’t seen the absolutely amazing magic of Nick Kay, you simply must – aside from being incredibly entertaining and amazing, he’ll have you laughing so much that you don’t mind being fooled because it just feels so good! Nick’s finale was one of my personal favourites with iconic storytelling that I know you’ll enjoy and remember long after you see the show, making it totally unmissable.

Another aspect that sets this show apart from others is at the conclusion of the show, there’s no need for the audience to hurriedly rush out of the magic space. The magicians are right in front of a media wall, waiting to say goodbye personally, have a chat and appear in photos. There are exceptions, but more often than not at most of the magic shows I’ve attended (a count that now extends past 850 magic shows!) due to time pressures or the large amount of audience members magicians only have time for a quick wave or a “seeyalater”. Continuing with the premium nature of this experience is the chance to meet the magicians post show and share your thoughts. Pictures aren’t mandatory of course, but they make a lovely memento of your visit.

The Theatre of Magic – Melbourne is actually a location of Theatre of Magic – Australia. With magical theatre spaces across Australia in cities such as Brisbane (running for 2 years now), Toowoomba, Melbourne (new!) and even expanding to Boston in the USA, it’s exciting to see the Theatre of Magic – Australia grow into its Melbourne location. If you’re after a night out with a luxe feel, I highly recommend experiencing The Theatre of Magic – Melbourne for yourself. It’s perfect for a solo treat night, date night, fun experience with friends (that will make for some awesome memories), or a fun way to spend an evening if you’re visiting Melbourne. Look no further for premium prestidigitation – it’s here at The Theatre of Magic – Melbourne.

The Theatre of Magic – Melbourne runs monthly (2 shows on a Saturday) at The Victoria Hotel. Click here to check out the schedule and arrange tickets for the next shows on November 8th 2025.
Click here to learn more about the Theatre of Magic – Australia with magical theatres across Brisbane, Toowoomba and Melbourne.

*Disclaimer: I attended this performance as a guest of the magicians.

Nick Kay, Josh Norbido and myself

Review: “The Impossible Zoom Experiment”

Talented magicians Eric Chien (from China) and Dom Chambers (from Australia) have combined their formidable magic forces in “The Impossible Zoom Experiment”. Both magicians have appeared on popular television and magical theatre shows (America’s Got Talent, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, and The Illusionists on Broadway) but have very different magic styles. The magical forces of Eric Chien and Dom Chambers combine to create what I believe is a simply unmissable show.

The fact the show takes place over Zoom usually presents magicians with some challenges, but these magicians have harnessed and overcome those challenges to present an unbelievable, unforgettable hour of magic. Hosting, performing and producing this show is no mean feat in itself – with the show being broadcast over zoom, with vision from Australia and China being linked. Not to mention the magicians rehearsing and remotely writing such a show.

There are elements within “The Impossible Zoom Experiment” that you’d find in many magic shows – pieces featuring playing cards and predictions – but Eric and Dom just take everything to that next level, and it showed all night in the reactions of the audience members. There were many squeals of delight and surprise and many sounds that I can only interpret as the audience being frequently astonished with what they saw. Minds were being blown all over zoom – the magic was that amazing. When I attend magic shows in person, I often get this feeling of excitement of what’s to come and I had that feeling all throughout this show. “The Impossible Zoom Experiment” is filled with highlights, but a personal highlight of mine was Eric Chien’s FISM award winning routine set to music. Mind = Blown. I couldn’t believe my eyes and I’m sure you won’t either. The disbelief was palpable.

Eric and Dom themselves are wonderful performers and hosts. Being so incredibly talented, you may expect some ego to be on display but there was none here. By the end of the show it felt like everyone was friends, it was a nice communal feeling (despite everyone being separated by a screen).

“The Impossible Zoom Experiment” truly is an unbelievable, unforgettable show that will have you questioning what really is in the realm of (im)possibility. Impossibilities can be explored virtually, and this show does it all with superb flair.

VERDICT: “The Impossible Zoom Experiment” validates that being behind a screen is no barrier to incredible magic (that often seems impossible) and certainly no barrier to a mind blowing evening of entertainment. If there’s any virtual magic show to be experienced for yourself, it’s this one!

Tickets / more information – see the link below. More show dates will be announced soon.
https://www.dominicchambers.com/impossiblezoom