On the evening of a forty-degree day the front room of the Brass Monkey is stiflingly hot, so we are
all looking forward to the ‘chills’ Kevin Kopfstein promises to create with his show Haunted.
Kevin’s blurb says he is a Scottish storyteller and collector of what he calls hauntiques: artefacts
supposedly imbued with supernatural power. History nerds should doubly beware; the stories are
spooky, but the artefacts are probably not legitimate as most of them serve as props for Kevin’s magic
tricks. I say probably because who am I to say for certain that the creepy doll is not haunted by the
ghost of the girl who owned it?
On a small stage with a haunting background of atmospheric music Kevin told us stories of ghosts and
supernatural creatures in his simple, unadorned style. The most well-known and easy-to-google-
afterwards was of the Highgate Vampire, said to roam Highgate Cemetery in North London in the late
1960s. Kevin “demonstrated the power of the vampire” that remained in the padlock from the
cemetery gates with a neat bit of magic that unlocked the padlock without touching it. It was a simple
trick (not that I could tell you how it was done) with little showmanship but handled well and pulled
off successfully.
I would have been interested to hear more about the vampire myth and the ITV documentary of the
exorcism that resulted in a mob trying to break into the cemetery to defeat the vampire in 1970, but
Kevin’s stories were more about creating a set-up for the magic tricks than for the sake of storytelling
itself. It feels like a missed opportunity for an exciting performance that actually engages with the
histories Kevin has collected. There is an art to storytelling and I personally do not feel that being able
to recount a string of facts qualifies anyone with the title Storyteller. I enjoyed the show but the blurb
is rather misleading as it is really just a magic show with a ghost theme.
The magic itself was quirky, each trick themed around the premise that a curse or ghost was working
in our midst. Once again, Kevin had none of the theatrics of your standard magician which meant the
tricks were just fine but not dazzling, and the atmosphere was a little flat. I suppose a hyped up, jazzy
magician would not have suited the sombre, spooky vibe of the show, but it needed an injection of
energy to keep us engaged, especially in such a sweltering venue.
The volunteers (not that they had a choice in participating as Kevin picked them from the audience)
who went on stage to help with the magic – sorry, to commune with the dead – did seem to be having
a good time, and we all had a good laugh along with them. I did hear a couple discussing after the
show how even from on stage they could not figure out how the trick had been performed and they
were suitably impressed by its success.
If you are the kind of person who loves magic tricks in any form then maybe Haunted is the show for
you. But if you, like me, have a hint of scepticism or have seen enough magicians to be unimpressed
by ring boxes that make the rings disappear, I would suggest giving it a miss. I was disappointed
because the blurb promised antique artefacts with interesting stories attached that have been collected
over a lifetime, but the coach lamp supposedly used by an Elizabethan highwayman lit up with blue
LEDs when placed over the correct ring box. I was hoping for intrigue and a good story but got high
street magic store tricks and a summary of the Wikipedia page for historical hauntings.
Haunted is showing at the Brass Monkey until the 16th February.