The Sydney Opera House Playhouse became a hub of wonderment as master mentalist Lior Suchard took to the stage. The Israeli entertainer is known for being a psychic to the stars, and as his pre-show video suggested, has freaked out the likes of Larry King, Barbra Streisand and the Backstreet Boys.
Suchard jumped straight into singling people out and although the audience was wary at first, by the end of the night people were flailing their hands in the hopes of being chosen. He wowed the entire auditorium by guessing the likes of pin numbers, words and the names of first crushes. He upped the ante significantly through testing the connection between a couple, a unique variant on Chase the Ace and by converting a particularly sceptical audience member. He even made a believer out of Steve Waugh, whom he spotted in the crowd. I won’t give any details away regarding some of his bigger tricks of the night, or his grand finale, but I will say that everyone walked away stunned.
Being such a unique show, personality is important. It felt as if no-one really knew what to expect, so we needed him to make us feel comfortable. Fortunately, Suchard’s charisma was immediately evident and it took mere seconds for him to win the audience over. His cheesy jokes and self-deprecation were charming, as well as a great way to disarm people. It also made things bearable when the cameraman kept making mistakes. This, along with some ill-timed music cues, was distracting and threatened to ruin his tricks, but Suchard always managed to draw the audience back in and make light of the technical difficulties.
His jokes about hidden cameras and being a fake were also well received – he knew that sceptics would be assuming he was cheating, and he addressed it in a fun way. It’s here where we saw why Suchard is so successful. Sure, his mind games and tricks are great, but they wouldn’t be nearly as impressive if he wasn’t just so damn likeable. Suchard is a true entertainer and his show makes for a great night of amazement.
4/5 stars
Lior Suchard plays at the Playhouse, Sydney Opera House until Sunday May 10.
