World famous in Christchurch spiritualist Peter Partridge is a kaftan-wearing, bitchy, mincing medium from a lifestyle block in North Canterbury town Rangiora, who is here on his highly limited world tour to astound and amaze us petty mortals. His faux-Eastern pop-mysticism is matched only by his love for beaded jewellery and cashed-up ‘sorry-not-sorry’ snark; his barbed insults are almost always wrapped up with a condescending ‘namaste’.

It’s a great character, played by theatre maker William Burns, and there’s a fine balance of light maliciousness and hilarious self-regard. Burns has a quick wit and a charismatic stage presence, and he bounces off of the audience’s responses with skill.

Partridge starts by reading the room, exposing the audience members’ darkest secrets – many offered up by the audience on cards before the show (suspicious) – before segueing into acts of mentalism and magic.

The audience absolutely love the show, especially the reveal of Partridge’s final trick. It’s a lot of fun watching the audience try to figure out how we move from tricks that have an obviously bullshit setup, and the acts of mentalism and card tricks that take a fair bit of nous to deploy successfully.

The show takes place in the pop-up marquee venue Little Andromeda, and generic ‘tribal’ music, the spare staging – some chairs, a few tables draped with tacky fabric – and the absence of proper lighting create a great sense of atmosphere and a clear connection between audience and performer.

Full disclosure – I’ve seen the show before, while it was under development, at a mentorship scratch night run by Two Productions. I also know how a bunch of the tricks work, and I overhear an indiscreet member of the audience (read: a plant) talking before the show, so I’m not sure if I’m a great person to be reviewing, or the worst. There’s obvious craft in the mentalism, but a top tip for the support crew is to keep your mouth shut when the audience are starting to gather.

I really enjoy seeing the show in its more complete form, but am left wishing that the show’s arc, the set up (including full-sized Peter Partridge cut outs put up on stage and around the venue), and the character’s terrific audaciousness and obnoxious absurdities were pushed even further.

This show, and Burns’ earlier one man show Shit Finds Love, have also been attended by capacity crowds that include a lot of (rightfully!) supportive friends and family. I’d like to see that safety net taken away and see what slippery, snarky Peter Partridge does with a cold room.

I must admit, too, that the Partridge reminds me a teeny bit of UK comedian Tom Binns’ fey celebrity medium character Ian D Montfort, although Montfort was developed, in part, to show a ‘real’ medium’s tricks so as to highlight the predatory nature of touring psychics.

Given the obvious potential of this show and the hilarious, bitchy schtick, I wonder how the character might be better differentiated, especially if Partridge is to hit the road and take his World Tour a bit further than Christchurch. (Ashburton?)

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