Review of Colin Cloud: Consequences, Fringe 2024

Birdy (perhaps a little deceptively) casually strolled down to Bristo Square’s McEwan Hall to watch Colin Cloud: Consequences, knowing full well there are consequences of seeing a Colin Cloud show – you’ll find out why by reading this review.

I’ll preface this review by telling you that the last time I went to see mentalist Colin Cloud was back in 2015, for his show Colin Cloud: Kills at the Edinburgh Fringe. It almost killed me.

You see, Colin had decided it was somehow a good idea to bring a man up on stage and tell him that his pulse was gradually slowing down and his heart was going to stop. Despite not being one of the people judged ‘susceptible’ to such things, I started to feel very weird, and almost passed out in the audience.

Afterwards, on my way out, I stopped to tell Colin what had happened, and he didn’t seem in the slightest bit surprised. Well, reader; to be honest, I’d avoided seeing him ever since… until now.

I entered the McEwan Hall with only slight trepidation, and was quite amused to see Colin sitting there with his blindfold on. This was announced as an opportunity for the audience to get their selfies with Colin in the background before the show began.

The above photo was the one I took from my seat, and I was pretty chuffed.

Of course, I was wondering why the Cloud was blindfolded, but figured maybe he needed the sensory deprivation to focus his other senses, because the Cloud is not only a master of suggestion, he’s also a master of ‘How the f*** did he know that?!’.

Just like other clouds (the big grey kind you see in the sky, or the internet variety), this one isn’t necessarily to be trusted. I’m sure more than one person in the audience left tonight wondering if he’s actually a mindreader masquerading as a mentalist with a background in forensic investigation.

Either way, he’s taking a month off Vegas to make it here to the Edinburgh Fringe 2024 (first time in five years!) so I was expecting some great things. I was early, too – I think this was maybe Colin’s second show of this run, so bear that in mind when reading.

The format

Let’s start this off by reading a little of the blurb for Consequences:

What do you believe? More importantly, what impact do those beliefs have on your existence Secrets unravelled, impossible outcomes predicted, and reality itself will be manipulated. 

As you would expect, the format of Colin’s show involves quite a bit of audience interaction and participation, as without it, there simply wouldn’t be a show.

There’s a big screen which zeroes in on Cloud’s various victims members of the audience as they’re being asked to look at cards, or say what’s in their heads, so everyone else can get a good look and ensure this is actually really happening without obvious cheating or trickery.

Occasionally, Colin will tell us a bit of a story about his background of forensic investigation and why he does what he does today – he’s very open about it. It may be good of him, but that doesn’t make it any less mind boggling.

Honestly, if there were ever a documentary where Cloud were to reveal exactly how the hell he does some of the things he does, I would watch it – but I suspect, not whilst he headlines at Vegas!

The vibe

When you first enter the McEwan Hall and see the massive red ‘CONSEQUENCES’, the blindfold, the lighting and the stage smoke, you wonder what consequences there are going to be tonight, and for whom – it’s a little bit ominous, which is absolutely the intention.

From the first few minutes in, I could tell Colin had polished his act up a tad since the last time I saw him in 2015, leading an even smoother show but still with a lot of his key trademarks that make a Colin Cloud show memorable. To put it another way, I think Vegas has definitely rubbed off on him!

Despite the ominous feel as you go in, Colin quickly relaxes the audience with some humour and some quick wins, using his powers of suggestion, observation and deduction. The audience was utterly enthralled – well, there’s a reason he’s been called the closest thing to Sherlock Holmes!

Suggestion, and manipulating the audience in certain ways is all well and good, but I’d forgotten how Colin could look at a person and instantly tell you their occupation, where they’re from, and their sodding birthday. How?!

It ermmmm… it does make you wonder what he’s thinking about you, and all the things he doesn’t say about you during a show.

Does he look at me and think: “There’s a woman who’s under confident about her body. Virgo. Plagued by intrusive thoughts about past traumas, approaching her 40s and clearly ODs on anti-ageing cream! She’s got traces of paint on her, she’s an artist but probably still a student. Hasn’t washed her hair for three days.”

In other words, it makes you feel a little bit vulnerable…

The show itself

Consequences is packed with ‘how did he do that?‘ and ‘how did he KNOW that?‘ moments, to instil the same sense of wonder in the audience his grandad used to give him when he played a cheap card trick on him for two whole years – and it works. Even on the skeptics.

The biggest consequence-themed trick of the night involved making the audience a little uncomfortable just watching, never mind taking part; and yes, this included me. Colin presented us with a large fish hook, complete with seven pieces of string, and put it through his tongue – presumably through an existing piercing. It was still uncomfortable to watch.

Six audience members would then be entrusted to pull as hard as they possibly could on the piece of string they selected, influenced by Cloud. The idea was that six pieces would come away no trouble, but if an audience member decided to pull on the wrong string, the consequences could end his career.

Cloud proceeded to go through the audience, picking some horrified people to pull their pieces of string. I was extremely glad he didn’t pick me, and in these situations, I try to make my press lanyard very visible, almost like some holy crucifix of protection (appropriate, as Fringe is kind of a religion for me).

It got down to the wire, with only two pieces of string left, and for this one trick, I could tell there was a very hairy moment where the person almost picked the wrong string. This was the one point in the show where Cloud let down his guard for a second and shook his head, because he absolutely did NOT want this to go wrong. I don’t blame him!

(Again, I also think this was maybe his second show of the Fringe, so I’ll let him off, and the rest may go smoother)

There are other points in the show where you may get an inkling that Cloud’s powers aren’t working to full strength, and he didn’t quite get something, but pretty much all of those are a lie, and lead to an utterly staggering call back or photo finish later in the show leading to a ‘how the F*** did he do THAT?’ moment.

Dear Reader, the most inexplicable part of the night – which partially but nowhere near completely involved using the audience to pick random numbers he then entered into his phone – I cannot even begin to work out what the hell happened. And although I’m fairly sure it’s going to be a little different every night, I’ll leave it as a surprise.

I will tell you this; Colin uses this show to build up the pieces of the jigsaw bit by bit, in ways you don’t even notice or expect, until suddenly it comes back to smack you in the face (not literally) and you’re left dumbfounded. He really is a master at this.

Upon leaving the show (I was the first to leave as I’d chosen my seat carefully and had other places to be), I had a brief interaction with Colin where I told him about my last experience – and apparently, he remembered me from that Fringe long ago.

Overall

Apparently this is the first time in five years that Colin has done the Edinburgh Fringe, so I’m glad I took the opportunity to come along. I very much enjoyed Consequences, and was very relieved to find out the biggest stakes at this show were on Colin – rather than the audience – this time.

The show was very smooth and polished, and I could tell Colin’s act has only gotten better in the nine years since I last saw him, with lots of unexpected surprises, call backs and ‘big finish’ moments to delight even the skeptics in the room.