After 2009?s Fringe success, the ‘mindreader who can’t read minds’ is back with another hour of inexplicable mental feats and self-effacing comedy.
In Fatal Distraction, Chris Cox tells the story of a failed romantic relationship – a story full of blank details, like his ex-paramour’s name, profession and favourite kind of food. In between routines where he replicates what volunteers from the audience have drawn on an out-of-sight flipchart – and an impressive segment where he appears to have memorised the Fringe programme in its entirety – Chris gets the audience to fill in the missing parts of the lovelorn tale.
All this leads up to a conclusion which baffles and ensures that the attention is firmly held throughout this highly entertaining performance.
With his lovable geek stage manner and gentle audience fun-poking, Cox is an easy performer to like. Mocking himself as much as anyone, his humour hits the mark – but it is the mastery and mystery of his mentalism feats which impress the most – if this is a man who can’t read minds, then he does a mighty fine job of convincing otherwise.
