This Fringe season, acclaimed magician Josh Staley is returning to Adelaide with one of his most ambitious concepts yet. After representing Australia at the World Championships of Magic and ranking among the top magicians in the world, the award-winning showman is premiering Deception by Design. This daring new work flips traditional magic on its head.
Running at The Sky Room at The Griffins Hotel from February 20th to March 8th, Deception by Design moves beyond polished tricks and rehearsed illusions, inviting audiences straight into the realm of impossibility.
In a sort of creative experiment, Josh opens up the “writer’s room” of a master magician, revealing the unorthodox thinking and principles that sit behind every moment of wonder. Each night, with no safety net and no predetermined outcome, he attempts to construct a brand-new magic trick live on stage, guided entirely by audience input. Methods are tested, ideas collide, and impossibility is assembled in real time, transforming spectators from passive observers into co-creators of the magic itself.
“Most magic shows are about the finished product, the polished miracle,” shared Josh. “With Deception by Design, I wanted to share and explore the creative process. Creating something impossible is a unique and interesting process. I wanted to show the audience the level of technical and conceptual engineering that goes into a single moment of astonishment, and then try to build a new one with them, without a safety net.”
It’s a concept few magicians would dare attempt. Creating magic typically happens behind closed doors in private studios over months of trial and error. Here, that process becomes the show, unfolding unpredictably night after night. Every performance is unique, shaped by the audience in the room and the creative risks taken on stage.
Josh’s international credentials are what make this possible. After recently competing at the so-called “Magic Olympics” in 2025, his reputation for world-class sleight of hand, sharp wit and fearless showmanship is what keeps audiences returning. Named “undoubtedly one of Australia’s best magicians,” he balances technical mastery with spontaneous comedy.
Combining interactive theatre, live experimentation and laugh-out-loud moments, Deception by Design is magic reimagined for the modern Fringe. It’s an unfiltered invitation to witness the beginning of an illusion and a rare chance to see what happens when the rules of magic are rewritten in real time.
Deception by Design
When: Friday, February 20th to Sunday, March 8th
Where: The Sky Room, The Griffins Hotel
Length: 60 mins
Price: $22 to $29
Rating: G
For more information, click here.
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