Don’t be fooled – Man of Steal isn’t about a man in blue spandex flying around the theatre. This one-man show promises to delight, entertain and inform through sleight-of-hand and very clever pickpocketing.

Frontrunner James Freedman makes you double- and triple-take as he confounds and astounds audiences alike. An honest thief indeed; his charisma and genuine humour kept you interested for the full show. Whilst it was obvious he isn’t your stereotypical performer (sorry thespians — no singing or dancing in this show), for someone who wasn’t classically trained at RADA he was genuinely very comfortable on stage. The fact that he works with the police offstage also gave it that sense of authenticity we don’t normally see in the theatre.

The audience interaction was great too. I always panic when performers get audience members up on stage – there are so many variables, there’s always something that’s bound to go wrong. However, he completely convinced me he’d done something wrong and I genuinely believed he’d been unable to do the trick right. It comes as no surprise that I’m very gullible.

When he’d do one trick, naturally you’d want to know how he’d do it; so when he’d do the same thing again you’d watch him more intensely to see if you could understand the logic behind it. I feel like this was on purpose to demonstrate the idea that you must be aware of your surroundings at all times, not just watching the show but in real life too. It sharpened your senses and made you hone in on the action, as well as ensuring you were interested in the show. This kind of dual-effectiveness amplifies the ingenuity of Freedman’s thinking.

I know people who have been defrauded before so it was actually really interesting to find out the schematics of the entire operation. What stood out to me was that Freedman seemed very passionate about his job and he really cared about trying to get people to be safer with their details; he actually stopped the show midway through to warn a certain audience member about his possessions. That kind of attention to detail definitely made me appreciate the work he was doing more, as opposed to it being branded as a gimmick.

I think as well the fact that something like this is at Trafalgar Studios, one of the biggest theatres in the country, stands to show how enticing the material is. It’s pretty niche, and stands out against the musical giants of the West End.

I don’t want to give everything away because there are some big surprises at the end of the show which are worth going for. A really fun evening out and actually pretty informative too… but I’m not using a cash machine ever again.

James Freedman: Man of Steal is playing at Trafalgar Studios until 4 July. For tickets and more information, see the ATG Tickets website.