There's no shortage of magic shows at the Fringe this year — including at least three relying on mentalism, or mind-reading, magic tricks (see, for example, the always entertaining Tim Motley, back this year in 6 Quick Dick Tricks).

But astonishing tricks aren't the only thing that make for a great magic show — good stage patter is also key. Mentalist Brian Trudeau has the former down, but not quite the latter.

He performs a series of tricks in this family-friendly show that are genuinely impressive — accurately guessing the number on a hidden die to plucking the name of a celebrity an audience member thought of seemingly out of thin air are just the warm-ups for even more remarkable feats I won't give away here.

He also lets us in on a few trade secrets — but not enough to spoil the show.

His stage patter, though, needs some work — while he's likable and shows a good sense of humour, his patter seemed a bit tentative and low key on his opening night, and the show suffers from some slow pacing.

In the end, I was surprised that magic so impressive actually felt a bit dull.