Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle

And so it all comes to an end. Our first festival in 3 years, a total of 36 shows watched in a little over 4 days and what a way to finish.

I always try to start and end our festival with big shows & I certainly achieved that this year. Just 4 days ago we started with Ian McKellen's Hamlet and now we end with Mischief Theatre's "The Mind Mangler" and if that isn't the perfect way to define the breadth of the shows available at the Edinburgh Fringe I don't know what is.

We jumped aboard the Mischief Express at the Fringe early with "The Play That Goes Wrong" winning our Best Show award back in 2013 with "Lights, Camera, Improv" picking up our Best Comedy award the following year. Since then the only show of theirs we missed was "Magic That Goes Wrong" and that was only because Covid cancelled the show before we could use our tickets, but "The Mind Mangler" was our way of filling that gap.

Although this year's batch of DarkChat reviewers have seen countless shows between us this was the first that all 6 of us attended together. It is a indication of the appeal of Mischief Theatre that a group of people aged from 13 - 63 can be equally excited (although the 2 teenagers were just thrilled to be queuing in front of Alex Horne).

Most people here would know what to expect from a Mischief Theatre show but today is a chance for two of the three writers Henry Lewis ("The Mind Mangler") and Jonathan Sayer (his stooge) to take centre-stage. To say they work hard is an understatement, particularly Henry who dominates proceedings and is a wonder when dealing with the audience.

This is comedy at its best from beginning to end and sustaining that level for an hour is very rare indeed. By the end the audience are exhausted through laughing and probably come out thinner as the venue was a sauna. There are literally thousands of shows at this year's festival but "The Mind Mangler" is a must-see show.

Warning. This show contains pathos and MAGIC!