Making their fifth appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, last night I had the chance to see the hilarious Melbourne production Adults Only Magic Show at the iconic Scottish festival. The show receives rave reviews each year – and this, the 463rd time they’ve performed the show, will have been no exception.
Helmed by magicians Sam Hume and Justin Williams, with MC Magnus ‘Danger’ Magnus, and their gorgeous assistant Richard Sullivan, this is unlike any show you’ve ever seen. Magic or otherwise. It will also contain “the most dicks you’ll see in a lecture theatre”, as the MC promised at the start of the show. Magnus does a phenomenal job warming the crowd up, making everyone feel comfortable about the show (and the said dicks) to come. And ready to make noise (which is important, of course).
But none of this works if the magic isn’t impressive – and it very much is. I won’t spoil any of their tricks for you here, but I was genuinely blown away by just about every illusion they treated the crowd to. There are card tricks and predictive magic that I’m sure would even impress the masters of the artform. Have Penn & Teller seen these guys? And then there’s feats of escape that are pure entertainment.
The way they interact with the crowd is playful, and almost always hilarious. There’s a genuine sense from all the performers – even as they approach some 500 times of doing this particular show – that they are just chuffed they get to do this for a living. They even treat the crowd to some photos of themselves as wee lads, well before the clothes started coming off, showing how they are very much living their dreams. Though “adults only” is not their only schtick. It’s not even their only show at this year’s Fringe. Even more impressive is that they do a kids show every morning. Talk about versatility.
My only note for the show is they do the “oh no we got the trick wrong!” fake out a little too often. By the show’s end, it loses the impact. But beyond that, no notes.
The show runs for a very nice 69 minutes (though we were a few minutes over tonight), which feels like the sweet spot for the show’s energy and participatory elements. I was left equally wanting more, and perfectly satisfied by the evening of laughs, magic and indeed, nudity. Though there’s not quite as much as you might expect.
It may be the most entertaining magic show I’ve ever seen.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Adults Only Magic Show is for guests 18+ only, and will be enjoying performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until 30th August. Tickets and more details are available HERE.
The reviewer attended on 11th August 2026 as a guest.
Photo Credit: Frank Packer
