They’ve had a play, and an adaptation of Peter Pan go wrong, and now Mischief Theatre are making magic go wrong in their new show.
Appropriately titled, Magic Goes Wrong, the Olivier-winning company’s new show has been created with the help of magic icons, Penn & Teller.
The clumsy Mischief company will play a hapless gang of magicians presenting a charity event. As the accidents spiral out of control, so does their fundraising target!
Magic Goes Wrong will be the second show in Mischief Theatre’s year-long residency at the Vaudeville Theatre, which opens with Groan Ups in September 2019. We’re still eagerly awaiting news about the third show in the residency, so keep your eyes peeled for news!
Mischief Theatre was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and began as an improvised comedy group. Eleven years later, Mischief Theatre now performs across the UK and internationally with improvised and original scripted work.
They currently have two productions in the West End and on tour, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, and The Play That Goes Wrong which has also recently completed a two year run on Broadway. They also won Best New Comedy for The Play That Goes Wrong at the Olivier Awards 2015.
Henry Lewis, Artistic Director of Mischief Theatre, and Jonathan Sayer, Company Director of Mischief Theatre, said:
“We can’t believe we’re getting to work with the iconic Penn & Teller for Magic Goes Wrong. The next Goes Wrong show has been a long time coming so we can’t wait for audiences to join the original Mischief company at the Vaudeville for what we’re sure will be an evening full of surprises – mainly for us and the stage management!”
Teller added, ‘When our own magic has gone wrong, we were miserable, but when it’s somebody else, it’s hilarious, so this seems like the perfect project for Mischief and us. We’re huge fans of theirs, so collaborating with them was a privilege and an astonishment. Any idea we’d pitch them, right on the spot they’d turn it around and make us double over laughing. We’re very proud of the results and hope you enjoy the show.’
If the news that Penn & Teller are involved with the show wasn’t exciting enough, Magic Goes Wrong will be produced by Broadway producer Kevin McCollum and J.J. Abrams. Yes, J.J. Abrams, the Hollywood filmmaker, writer and producer who’s currently working on the new Star Wars film, THAT J.J. Abrams. It turns out J.J saw The Play That Goes Wrong when he was filming in London and ended up helping Mischief Theatre land their first Broadway transfer of the production.
J.J. Abrams, said, ‘I am a nearly life-long fan of Penn & Teller and working with the Mischief Theatre Company has been pure joy. I expect all that to change with this new production.”