Every Adelaide Fringe, the magic gets scattered across dozens of venues — one brilliant act here, a sold-out room there, a hidden gem you only hear about after it's closed. Best of Fringe Magic is our answer to that: we round up the festival's best and put them on one stage for a single, fast-moving hour.
One hour, the festival's sharpest acts
The format is simple and it works. Sam King hosts, and each show brings together a handful of the Fringe's standout performers — sleight-of-hand experts, mind-readers, comedy magicians — with a different guest magician dropping in on different nights. You get variety, pace, and the festival's best moments without sitting through anything that drags. If one act isn't your thing, the next one is two minutes away.
Who's on the bill
Past lineups have featured Sam King and Baenedict Thiveanathan from the Adelaide Magic Theatre alongside award-winning guests like Stuart Lightbody — the kind of names that headline their own sold-out seasons. Because the guest slot rotates, regulars often come back more than once across the season to catch a different mix.
Who it's for
It's a brilliant first Fringe show if you're not sure where to start, an easy win for a date night, and family-friendly enough for older kids who'll happily lose their minds at a good card trick. Smart, funny, high-impact magic — no filler.
Best of Fringe Magic returns each Adelaide Fringe in February and March. Want to catch the magic year-round instead? Our close-up shows run every Saturday at 7:30pm.
Book a Saturday Show →Fringe only comes once a year, and the magic line-up is one of the best reasons to get into town for it. When the dates drop for the next season, Best of Fringe Magic is the one-hour shortcut to the festival's finest.