Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2014

Chris Cook: Charlatan

Performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been a dream of mine for years. Since around 2005 I have been going up to Edinburgh to check out the latest and greatest comedy and magic shows, dreaming that one day I may be able to have a show there myself. Well this year my dream came true...

A packed out audience enjoying the show

I had the pleasure of performing my hour long show "Chris Cook: Charlatan" twenty times during the fringe festival to over 1,500 people. I had the pleasure of being a part of the wonderful PBH Free Fringe organisation who have been running for 19 years now. The show was really well received by critics and audiences and every seat of every show was always full with plenty of people sat in the aisles and squeezed in at the side.

“He made what seems impossible to the rest of us look effortless and is a reminder of how cool magic is.”

— BroadwayBaby

Rhys and I celebrating success with our comicbook tshirts

The whole experience was made possible with the help of my good friend Rhys Williamson who co-wrote and directed the show. Rhys was fantastic at bouncing ideas around and bringing a "non-magician" head to the table when it came to scripting and rehearsing. We will be working together again on next years show.

The show was on every day in the wonderful Voodoo Rooms, just round the corner from the train station. It is without a doubt one of the nicest venues at the entire festival, with fantastic staff and an excellent programme of other comedy and cabaret shows. I shall definitely be returning there next year...

“Top Tipped comedy show of the Edinburgh Fringe”

— ThreeWeeks

Thank you to all of the wonderful people that came to see the show. It was an absolute pleasure to perform to such a great bunch of people. I can't wait to see you all again next year.

There will be some public performances of Charlatan in Spring 2015 and the show is available to be booked for parties, events and corporate functions. For more information, check out the shows page. 

Chris Cook: Charlatan receives glowing review from BroadwayBaby

BroadwayBaby Review

I'm very pleased to have received an outstanding review from BroadwayBaby for my Edinburgh Fringe show, Chris Cook: Charlatan. The original full review from BroadwayBaby has been republished below.

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Chris Cook: Charlatan

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by Kayleigh Blair on 5th August 2014

Chris might be new to the Fringe but it certainly looks like he will be back again. The crowd were initially uncertain as to what was to come, however he captured their attention from the first trick. With his sleight of hand and tricks of the mind, people were twitching to know how he does it, but a magician never reveals his secrets.

He made what seems impossible to the rest of us look effortless.

The show begins in the queue with guests being asked to write a movie name on a piece of paper for use later in the show. What he later does with this simple task, along with everything else, can be well described as astounding. He's very modest and charming and the whole show was a delight without a single glitch or mistake.

Chris uses plenty of audience members in his tricks and I myself was one of the chosen ones when I attended the show. The trick involved nothing but a copy of 50 Shades of Greyand I was completely baffled by his mysterious predictions. Even now I don't believe it.

The crowd was overspilling; he truly seemed shocked to have such an eager audience but he proved his worth. Disbelief and awe were written across the faces around me. He made what seems impossible to the rest of us look effortless and is a reminder of how cool magic is. I have no doubt that Chris will be filling much bigger venues in no time. We should all look forward to seeing more and larger scale magic from him in the future.

For more information on Chris's hit Edinburgh Fringe shows, check out the Shows Page or to book Chris to perform a stage show at your event, get in touch.