Luke Jermay

Luke Jermay is undoubtedly an incredibly talented mind reader, and his straight-from-Vegas cabaret telepathy in The Sixth Sense is entertaining and humorous but he passes up the opportunity to push his talents into the shocking or disturbing. His breed of magician-showman is one determined to take the piss out of as many audience members as possible. He certainly raises a laugh as he reveals – with commendable accuracy – the colour of your underwear or an embarrassing teenage drunken escapade.

However, Jermay ceases to build upon this and misses the opportunity to build an engaging repartee with just one audience member and perhaps perform a scarily accurate reconstruction of their past to freak them out in front of the entire audience. His inter-trick banter with the audience is extremely entertaining (although he sometimes uses it to skirt around a difficult mind-reading task). He brushes upon some profound philosophy and poetry, and recites beautifully ‘The Laughing Heart’ by Charles Bhaukaski, urging us all to live our lives to the very optimum.

The Leicester Square Theatre is the perfect setting for this show, with its somewhat cramped stage and low-rise expanse of seating. It has the feel of an old cinema or music hall, with two bars placed informally at the back of the space encouraging the audience – in true Vegas style – to perceive his show as just a bit of fun and the precursor to a night out. This is held in tension with his traditional ‘mystic’ persona, using the very traditional methods of tarot cards and books to springboard into selecting what he’ll drill his next victim about. This combination is effective in making him both likeable as the sort of mate who’d entertain you down at the pub, yet gives him an air of authority and authenticity.

His ability to gauge an audience and build a relationship is excellent, managing to persuade us all to hold hands and chant ‘Om’ to encourage trust and a sense of community within the room. He certainly doesn’t make anyone feel left out as he swings a spotlight around the audience ready to choose his next victim. The joke doesn’t wear thin (just about) due to the show’s short running time. For a quick and fun night out, this is perfect. However, Jermay needs to work on creating continuity between his tricks to create a show that carries more weight.

Luke Jermay: The Sixth Sense is running at the Leicester Square Theatre until 13 July. For more information and tickets, visit the Leicester Square Theatre website.