REVIEW: Impossible, Sunderland Empire, Until February 27

The stunning show delved deep into the history of magic, celebrating styles through the ages and delighting the audience with mind-blowing illusions and mind-bending tricks.

The first act was a little bit of a slow-burner, the audience didn’t quite know how often they should applaud and being up in the stalls made me feel a little left out from the action that was happening downstairs.

But the show got better and better as it went on, and don’t worry if you’re sat far from the stage, big screens ensure nobody misses a trick.

From sleight-of-hand and mind-reading to cutting girls in half and firing a crossbow blindfolded, the six Impossible magicians covered all the bases and made for a spectacular evening.

The show saw members of the audience pulled up onto the stage to assist the magicians – although some seemed to be stooges it still made for a lot of fun.

Lee Thompson put a new spin on the well-known trick in which a magician links three metal rings together by taking the rings off the fingers of a trio of audience members and linking them – it was brilliant.

Chris Cox’s routine of getting an audience member to choose an outfit from a host of clothing and accessories and mimicking it was brilliant.

Josephine Lee performed some brilliantly-dangerous escapes but nobody shocked the audience more than Jonathan Goodwin.

The daredevil was fastened in a straitjacket before being doused in petrol and hung upside down above the stage.

I was on the edge of my seat as he was set on fire and escaped from his restraints before grabbing a fire extinguisher to douse the flames. It was terrifying but amazing to watch.

Ben Hart performed a fantastic routine of good old-fashioned rope tricks with the help of an adorable young audience member.

Hip hop street magician Magical Bones was utterly fantastic. He didn’t come out until the second act and I would have loved to see more of him.

A card trick in which he manipulated a deck shuffled by an audience member to pull out numbered cards in time to a mixed track was awe-inspiring.

Another he did involving a Crunchie was astounding – go and see it for yourself.

The show is a must for magic fans – it was pure magical entertainment.

Impossible runs at the Sunderland Empire until Saturday, February 27. Click here to book tickets.

Twitter: @vickinewmanjp