Young Critics Collective: Kevin Quantum | Anti Gravity

Against a classic magician’s backdrop, ominous purple lightning and a black top-hat, Kevin Quantum enticed, entertained, and astounded the audience on Friday night. The evening was half stand-up, half magic show. Within minutes, he had distinguished the sceptics from the believers and befuddled them until we were all in the palm of his (sleight of) hand. Despite technical hiccups with the soundscape, he handled everything with comedic showmanship, and kept the audience laughing throughout.

This was the first show of his tour, and he certainly came in with a bang! As a performer, Kevin is wonderful. In a blaze of glitter and fake bank notes, he amused and amazed us in turn. Like the best magic shows, he never let the audience rest- from warm-ups (which involved getting uncomfortably close with strangers) to on-stage humiliation. It felt like ‘our’ show, rather than his. Thankfully, everyone was extremely supportive, especially after Kevin had proved his unbelievable powers, and the children that were chosen were endearingly delighted with their moments in the limelight. They immediately seemed to view him as a friend, or, in some cases, a crazy older brother who kept asking their age. I was just relieved he didn’t choose me! Even those who were reluctantly chosen got into the spirit and were treated like film stars by the lucky survivors. The audience was an eclectic mix of young and old, couples and families, yet we all had a sense of childlike wonder by the end.

It was impossible to guess where the show was going next because it was jam-packed with red herrings and misdirection. Several of the former tricks felt like exactly what one might expect from a magician- card tricks, red balls and disappearing lemons. Only in the second act did Kevin truly embrace the ‘Anti-Gravity and science theme. It was well-worth the wait, he performed impossible tricks whilst daring us to guess how.

There were several technical issues with the sound and lights, which will presumably be ironed out later in the tour, but the only mistakes in his performance were those he wanted us to see. It was surprisingly enjoyable to learn about his scientific background, and his appearance on Britian’s Got Talent, which added some welcome context to his act. Ultimately, it had us rooting for him all the more.

The denouement of the evening was as impressive as the title promises and by the end the atmosphere of nervousness and scepticism had become pure enjoyment. In fact, many of the families were forced to stay behind at the end to take photographs. It goes to show that cracking jokes and making a genuine connection with the audience is just as important as the magic- or perhaps it is its own type of magic.

As Nottingham braced for Storm Boelo on Friday 23rd October, Kevin Quantum (Kevin McMahon) kicked off his 2026 UK tour at Lakeside Arts. Physicist-turned-magician Kevin Quantum owes his career to early-2000s Channel 4 reality show Faking It. After receiving magic training from Vegas legends Penn & Teller, he made the full-time switch over to entertainment, and on this tour revisits his roots with a science-inspired set titled Anti-Gravity.

Kevin acknowledged the divide in the audience between the “Believers” and the “Sceptics”. As someone who firmly falls in the sceptic camp, I took a high balcony seat on the side of the stage, hoping to decipher the methods behind the magic, an ultimately fruitless task as Kevin Quantum’s set was inscrutable. He broke the ice instantly, initiating an activity where the audience got to know one another. A slew of standard but impressive card tricks followed, each involving members of the audience. Misdirection quickly emerged as Kevin Quantum’s finest skill, and it stayed that way all evening as apples became oranges and cards ended up under people’s watches.

Another of Kevin’s qualities is his ability to improvise when things go wrong, as they occasionally did with sound and technology issues that will be ironed out over the course of the tour. Furthermore, when audience participation in a guessing game went awry, Kevin got the show back on track and delivered the first ‘WOW’ moment of the show, moving swiftly along from the guesses to reveal that the mug that was empty just seconds before now somehow had two lemons and a banana inside it.

Playing into the scientific theme, Kevin Quantum occasionally explained some of the tricks, but did so in such a way that the magic was not lost, instead presenting himself as a virtuoso who can accomplish complex trickery. In the same vein, Kevin performed a trick on someone on stage, and while they could not work it out, it was intentionally obvious for those in the crowd, creating a fun back and forth. The children at the show remained extremely engaged throughout thanks to Kevin’s constant humour and crowd interaction, and the parents weren’t safe from being picked on either!

The second half of the set opened with some more science magic. Kevin cleverly used chemistry to make water coloured with powders, before seemingly extracting each powder until the water was clear again. Following another good maths trick where Kevin successfully guessed an audience member’s number, the most memorable part of the show for me appeared with the wooden chairs (that he claims he bought earlier that day in Lincoln). It was with these chairs that Kevin performed three mind-boggling tricks. First, he made them electrocute anyone who sat on them but him, followed by sticking two audience members to the chairs! Finally, the most confusing to me, was when he made the chair switch between being impossibly heavy (when a parent tried to lift it), and regular weight (when it was a child’s turn). Kevin explained the history of the weight trick, noting how Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin originally achieved this with hidden electromagnetism – but Kevin Quantum used a wooden chair!

Due to time constraints, the final third was slightly rushed but the idea of an anti-gravity experiment gradually spiralling out of control was clever and I can see it being more fleshed out on future dates. The audience was most impressed on the night when he made a girl levitate, although I think Kevin was hoping for a larger reaction to his own flight.

A few technical hiccups aside, this was a confident and charming start to the tour and, with the finale given more time, I can only foresee it improving with every date.