Fake
★★★★☆ Original forgery
Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14): Wed 5 – Mon 31 Aug 2026
Review by Tom Ralphs
Fake, performed by Edinburgh magician Chris Cook in a Snap the Arrow production, combines magic, art and fraud largely through the medium of storytelling.
As with the work of the finest illusionists, Fake makes connections between its disparate strands that appear entirely logical even though on closer scrutiny they may not be.
Michelle Robb’s simple staging sits Cook between two small tables; one with a card with the word FAKE written in large letters, the other with a framed photocopy of Johannes Vermeer’s painting The Girl With The Pearl Earring. The framing gives Cook all he needs to launch a show that he effortlessly carries forward on its own momentum over the next hour.
Chris Cook in Fake. Pic Stuart Liam McConville.
Fake is about trickery, fraud and lies. The story of Han Van Meegeren, an obscure Dutch artist, who set out to prove his own credentials by forging a Vermeer painting is the main focus of the art side of the show.
Cook and co-writer and director, Rhys Williamson, skilfully use early parts of this story as the vehicle for moving on to a discourse about magic and illusion – which in turn serves as the vehicle for Cook to demonstrate his skills as a magician and how easy it can be to create an illusion.
The great craft in the show is how Cook is able to move back and forth between its various strands. Under the guidance of art consultant Topaz Pauls, he brings to life a story of art forgery that gives some form of redemption to van Meegeren, while also diminishing the reputation of more famous artists by introducing stories of magicians whose life stories were also illusions, and using these to both add to and break up a traditional magic show.
Cook is not trying to pretend that magic is anything other than a trick of the eye. An early reveal of how one trick works makes it easier to look for the sleight of hand in the ones that follow, but there is always a final twist that makes you wonder how he pulled it off.
His enthusiastic and engaging delivery makes Cook an entirely believable host, even as he works to deliver a final fraudulent twist. It’s worth seeing whether you like magic shows, tales of art forgery, or just good storytelling.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
Gilded Balloon Teviot (The Den), 13 Bristo Square EH8 9AJ (Venue 14).
Wednesday 5 – Monday 31 August 2026.
Daily (Not Mon 17): 1.40pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Tickets direct from venue: Book here.
Snap the Arrow website: www.snapthearrow.com
Instagram: @snapthearrow
Facebook: @chriscookmagic
Instagram: @chriscookmagic
ENDS
