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An Evening of Fine Wine, Dining
and Conjuring with John van der Put
Reviewed by Jez Rose
October 2008
It's a real treat to witness faces of disbelief, utter astonishment and pure
joy, the accompanied gasps, shrieks, rapturous applause, whistles and
uncontrollable grins accompany the hubbub of praise and "how did he do that?"
long after the Magi has left the table. Put these people into a gregarious and
accessibly opulent venue such as Brown's on St. Martin's Lane, add sensational
food and wine and pop in two of the finest magicians I've ever had the delight
to watch and you have An Evening of Fine Wine, Dining and Conjuring spookily
enough at Brown's in St. Martin's Lane. This is parlour magic for the masses; no
pretentious black tie or stately title required, just a desire to
enjoy.
It sounded promising from the advert: £35 (note to reader: I believe the price
is now £40 - but don't let that put you off, I'd pay more, frankly) for a three
course meal, fine wine, coffee, entertainment at your table followed by an
intimate after-dinner cabaret. The food is sensational - I'm fortunate enough to
eat in some wonderful restaurants around the world, many awarded Michelin stars
and the dining part certainly doesn't disappoint: delicious pate, mini French
stick, onion chutney and a fresh, dressed crispy salad, accompanied by white
wine from Eastern Australia. The second course was a succulent cut of steak in a
creamy peppercorn sauce on brioche accompanied by grilled vine tomatoes and
dauphinoise potatoes with, of course, a red wine from Western Australia. Fresh
water is on hand throughout and the Sommelier is freely available for you to ask
questions about the wine and to request more! The wine flows if you want it to
and don't let the advertised line of "wine tasting" put you off - this is more
sip at your own pace and as much as you can rather than swish and spit. The
final course before coffee was a wonderfully light and zesty lemon cheesecake
dusted, much to the delight of the woman sat opposite me, with icing sugar.
For a review such as this the next part is course the most important. The
conjuring. I've been fortunate to work with many magicians on my travels, some
poor, some excellent and some indifferent. John van der Put is of the excellent
variety. His dry wit but instantly likable persona and warming charm means he is
easily accessible to all and I'd rank him easily as one of the finest magicians
in the country, if not the world. To qualify that, I have never been so shocked
that I've spat out a mouth full of water before but last night was that night.
If the woman sat opposite me is reading this, again, many apologies. And John -
I do hope you didn't get too wet. He managed to find time to visit each of the
tables (approximately 8 tables each with 10 people) twice; the first set wasn't
anything sensational from a magical point of view (magicians never being
impressed unless there are at least fifteen sleights involved in turning the
card over) but these normal people sat around me who were perfectly in control
of anything in their mouth, lapped up every second of John and his perfectly
executed conjuring. And they went on and on and on about it when he'd left. But
the second visit was, for me and indeed for everyone watching, truly magical in
every sense of the word. John van der Put performs his own take on the
Reparation (the visual restoration of a playing card). It is performed with such
understated perfection and is by far one of the most magical things I, and the
now slightly damp people surrounding me, have ever witnessed.
The after-dinner cabaret was a great finish to the evening and the collection of
effects married perfectly. A surprise (it wasn't advertised) appearance from
Richard Pinner (yes, the Richard Pinner) provided a highly entertaining and
excellently magical interlude between Piff the Magic Dragon (this is Jack Dee in
fancy dress with cards - perfect!) and John's own company standnotamazed finale
which is the simplest, most elegant and perfect performance of the zig-zag and
works brilliantly! The audience loved it (clearly, as it ended with
wolf-whistling, screaming, clapping, cheers and a very excitable audience who
had enjoyed themselves very much indeed and weren't afraid to show it!).
The only bad thing to say about the evening was that the microphone needed a
little attention as it wasn't particularly clear (Richard Pinner proved that
actually it wasn't needed) and the lighting worked brilliantly well for the meal
and close-up (dim and a nice calm setting) but needed to be brighter for the
cabaret as some of the visuals were lost. And that's it. How often do you go out
and really have to pick to find something negative?
If you want a great night out, get yourself along to one of the monthly Evenings
of Fine Wine, Dining and Conjuring. I very much hope this becomes a regular
event because more than anything I've seen in a very long time, this proves that
excellent magic is still very much alive. Hats off to the guys at Brown's for
bagging John and Richard; I hope they realise what a great thing they've got
there.
© Jez Rose, October 2008