DURING a recent interview with The National, Scottish stage mentalist Colin Cloud said that one of the 10 things that changed his life was Sherlock Holmes.
It’s easy to see why because in his brilliantly crafted new show, much like the famous detective, he spends the evening reading people at random, revealing facts about them despite never having met them.
The difference though is that Holmes at least gives us some explanation whereas Cloud wows his audience with no logic behind why he’s knows audience members' favourite films or indeed events which have happened in their life.
Unlike Holmes, you have no idea how he does it and that makes the show all the more compelling.
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Crucially, Cloud never describes his show as "magic" – there’s no rabbits pulled from hats here.
He spends the hour-long show taking the audience through increasingly complex mind readings.
Cloud (below) kicked off the evening pointing out favourite films based on what shoes you had on.
By the end, an audience member was hypnotised and reading the numbers everybody had entered into their calculator. Things get weirder as they simultaneously get more enjoyable.
Even the performer himself will admit there are sceptics, but so long as you roll with it the show is a wondrous piece of work.
Cloud is so charismatic and keeps his audience hooked, making a show which requires who knows how much planning look so easy.
It’s all so carefully crafted that even at one stage when you think things have maybe started to go wrong, he pulls you back in to realise he had the audience on puppet strings the entire time.
There’s so many brilliant comics and actors at the Fringe, but Cloud feels like he’s offering something genuinely unique.
Needless to say the show is heavy on audience participation so it’s worth being prepared for your name being called out.
It’s never anything too stressful though, with audience members rarely on stage for more than a few minutes.
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It’s not all fun and games either, with the performer touching on some deeply personal subjects, adding a personal touch to the evening of entertainment.
Colin Cloud: After Dark is playing in the McEwan Hall until August 21 - more information and tickets available HERE.
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