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The Magic of Terry Pratchett – 3*** - One4Review

The Magic of Terry Pratchett – 3***

| On 13, Aug 2024

Based on his unofficial (but apparently, not objected to) biography of the phenomenally successful and prolific British author Sir Terry Pratchett, Marc Burrows’ show combines lecture and stand-up to tell the story of the late lamented author up until his tragically early death due to his Alzheimer’s in 2015.

It is no easy task to summarise a person’s life, certainly not someone whose life was eventful as Pratchett’s and certainly not with a strict one-hour timeframe. Burrows certainly gives it a try, covering everything from Pratchett’s early life as a precocious schoolboy to his journalism career to his work to promote awareness and acceptance of both Alzheimer’s and euthanasia. Inevitably, huge chunks of the man’s life – perhaps most noticeably his actual novelist career – are either absent or reduced to footnotes. Though perhaps Pratchett wouldn’t have minded the latter – he did love footnotes.

The most difficult thing for shows like this is walking the delicate line between giving enough information for those new to the subject and not spending too much time repeating information that will bore the fans. I honestly don’t know how well the show would function as an introduction to Pratchett as his works only make fleeting appearances in quotes and clips here and there and, as a fan, I didn’t find myself learning anything massively new, though it was interesting to see a little extra of the man behind the cowboy hat.

Overall, the show lacks a tightness of focus. In particular, while Burrows’ passion for his subject shines through the show, the diversions into stand-up style gags and storytelling honestly felt a little distracting at points and didn’t feel delivered with the confidence necessary for them to hit. Perhaps to a non-Fringe crowd, glutted with stand-up, this would have mattered less, but as it was, they just took time away from a subject he had little enough time to cover already. It would have been more interesting to me if the information was denser but the delivery drier, or vice versa.

I should probably also mention, just because it’s such a hot-button issue in 2024, that the show uses AI generated imagery which Burrows assured the audience he doesn’t approve of, only to continue to use it throughout the show, including a point at the end which I’m not going to spoil but personally made me a little uncomfortable.

I’m not sure I could recommend this to someone not familiar with Pratchett’s work. I don’t really think it’s for the die-hard fans either, who’d probably get more just buying Burrow’s book. Perhaps worth a punt for someone familiar, but not expert, in Pratchett’s life or work would find it the most enjoyable.

***
Reviewed by Tom
Assembly George Square Studios – Studio Two
17.10 (1hr)
Until 18th August

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