Mind Reading For Breakfast

After the cynicism of Peter Powers, who makes old ladies think their dead husbands have a special message, it's heartening to see a self-proclaimed sceptic dig at the absurdities of modern superstition. Rob Bailey does the tricks, explaining that they are all tricks, without explaining how they are done. For a debunking show, it is high on the spectacular, climaxing in an act that could have left Bailey bleeding.

Like Derren Brown, Bailey sets himself as the voice of rationality: unlike Brown, he is less show-business than science. This excuses his self-consciously bad jokes, and gives the hour the atmosphere of a friendly lecture.

While he states that he has a higher agenda – debunking nonsense – it is only in the astrology section that he really gets to grips with the subject and demonstrates how it pretends to work. Equally, just because he can do the same things as psychics does not disprove them: that's bad science. An equally unscientific approach would be to point out that it is bloody obvious that they are charlatans. Yet Bailey has an easy going stage presence, a gentle sense of humour and enough glam to offer a good magic show with the odd science bit.