FISM GALA STAGE SHOW 2 :: BY CRAIG MITCHELL

Wednesday evening featured another gala stage show with a high energy crowd ready for a great evening's entertainment. And overall that's exactly what we got.

Highlights:

*Topas with his BRILLIANT song - "FISM ... it's the place to be" featuring the official FISM choir - Max Maven, Luis de Matos, David Sousa and host of magic celebrities singing in unison. Hilarious.

*Omar Pasha and his spectacular black art ( and despite the multitude of announcements requesting no flash photography - I'll let you guess what happened )

*David Sousa - paced and deliberate. A beautifully refined act.

*Shi Lei & Jiao Jiandong - some great shadowgraphy along with bird warblers !

*Jeff McBride - being the final performer on such a long show is never an easy task. The audience are restless - but Jeff presented a high energy, high impact performance along with a great misers dream routine.

*And most incredible of all - the Diabolo artists from the Chinese National Circus ( once gain, just give the magicians the acrobats and they'll be happy ) You have never seen diabolo like this before.

Lowlights:

*Merok from Argentina ... looking like a member of the Adams family, this dove worker was the weakest in the show line-up

*Imagia from Italy - a stage filled with boxes with the main illusion being the levitating box and appearing girl from within

*Victor Voitko - Uktraine ... linking rings, floating rings, a snowstrom for no reason, a stripper doing a pole dance and then a levitation looking like a 90's Copperfield clone with plenty of smoke, blowing hair and even DC's Coccoon music if I am not mistaken.

Other:

*Yunke from Spain featured a production from chair, a steam iron vanish of a girl ( picture an asrah in which you steam away the girl ), swords through box and ending with the spikes of death. Some liked it - me not so.

*Peter Marvey made a surprise return to the stage with a strange black art illusion in which he removes the 'skin' of his volunteer leaving just her limbs in a dressing roon / mirror style contraption. He followed this with his head bisector box in which his head drops down his torso atop a box ( seen at Dresen 97 I am told ) and finishing with his new horizontal buzzsaw illusion atop a unicycle. The illusion is very visual but the get in and get out is way too cumbersome.

All in all - an evening full of entertainment. A little long - but enjoyed by all.