Keith Barry | 8 Deadly Sins

Review by: Caroline Foran

Title: 8 Deadly Sins
Venue: Olympia Theatre
Price: €30
Dates: until August 13th

8 Deadly Sins is a show like no other. Sometimes it's theatrical, other times it's comical; but one thing's for sure, it's always entertaining. Having interviewed Keith Barry just weeks before his stint in The Olympia began, I was eager to find out whether or not the Mentalist of the Year had in fact discovered an 8th Deadly Sin or whether it was simply an idea that had themed his show. Without giving too much away, after two hours of tricks, laughs and nail-biting moments, let it be said that 8 Deadly Sins delivers on all accounts.

Naturally, given that it was the show's first night, Barry warned us that it might not go as smooth as he'd hoped. After all, this was the first time he'd perform any of his new material. Beginning quite scattered with various mind extracting stunts - some of which fared better than others - and all of which were based on the original 7 Deadly Sins, the show seemed a bit too hectic. But this is probably down to the fact that almost every aspect of the show relies on audience participation which can be bloody hard work for the person trying to keep it all together. However, my initial impression soon changed. As time went on, elements of the show started to layer nicely upon each other, sinful facts that we'd been told about earlier started to make more sense. The stunts got bigger and better until what started out as random threads came together for an impressively energetic crescendo that confirmed to every member of the audience, including the many press that were there, why Barry is as successful as he is.

The show was two and a half hours long and jam packed with entertainment. Aided by a creepy but hilarious assistant named 'Evagrius' who looked like an extra from Star Trek (and behaved like an extra from some kind of Trekkie porn- you'll just have to go and see) Barry took many an audience member beyond the banality of everyday life, asked that they leave aside their cynicism and showed them a crackin' good time. The show had many laughs, some of which revolved around a blow up doll, the most mortified young lady for whom Barry revealed some of her raunchiest thoughts, (she was only scarlehh) and some naked whipping too.

But apart from being good fun, 8 Deadly Sins is a show that much like its creator, will leave you dumfounded. Impressive tricks based on the sins of sloth and gluttony caused many a jaw to drop. Granted Barry is a great entertainer, he's also very intelligent, well researched and a passionate student for his craft. Add to this his unparalleled flair for trickery and a satisfying conclusion to what seems a large claim (does he really find an 8th Deadly Sin?) and you've got yourself one unmissable show.

8 Deadly Sins runs in the Olympia until August 13th

Click here to read Caroline's interview with Keith Barry.

Story by EI Team | 09:00 | Thursday 14th July 2011 | Theatre

2026

Comments

• trixie

  Well done on a great review , you summed up evey minute of the two hour show perfectly , we went on the second night of the show , enjoyed it so much , thinking of going again on the last night to see who Keith reveals as his assistant Evagirus :)

  Posted 10:28 | Sun 17th Jul 2011

• Patatronic

  We went to the second night in the Olympia too. The first half of the show was filled with the usual slight-of-hand tricks and an occasional bout of hypnosis, with very mixed results. One trick in particular left Keith holding a number of large placards with completely inaccurate "predictions" written on them. The big illusion before the break consisted of Keith doing a sum, which he already knew the answer to. Keith's contrived narrative and enthusiastic hand-waving at this point only highlighted the lack of substance in the act itself. We took this opportunity to leave. Perhaps the second half was outstanding.

  Posted 16:04 | Fri 19th Aug 2011

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