This is perfect: from start to finish Vincent Gambini’s Close-Up one-on-one show is a extravagantly simple slice of, well, magic.
The setup is deliberately a little mysterious, but the performance is designed for a single audience member, sat across from Gambini in discreet corner of a coffee shop while the world goes by, with audio delivered through noise-cancelling headphones.
If that sounds potentially intense, don’t worry: while individual and intimate, the delivery is relaxed and comfortable. The performance guides you in, unfurling its conceptual wings with gentle precision and deftly hidden cues. I want to rave about some of the delicious small touches in the execution, but to do so would spoil the chance of finding them yourself.
The tricks Gambini performs are nothing new – think classic card tricks and disappearing items, rather than grandiose illusions – but that doesn’t make them any less impressive when perfectly performed just across the table, and just for you. The script plays with ideas of film and fiction, and the idea you shouldn’t believe your eyes (and ears) is entirely fitting.
The show’s 15 minutes runs out all too quickly, but to be longer might stretch the suspension of disbelief. It would also make this even more of a momentous effort by Gambini, who is performing it nearly 70 times over the festival run.
It’s a masterful treat. If you can get a ticket, don’t hesitate.
- Close-Up continues at The Yard Coffee for Norfolk and Norwich Festival until Saturday 24 May 2025; the run is sold out but the festival is running a waiting list for cancellations
