Australia’s best magicians have taken over a 30 seat theatre in Northcote. Every Tuesday night, they use it to try things nobody has seen before.

That is the entire idea behind The Magic Experiments. Brand new material, performed live, months before it reaches a festival stage or a television screen. If you have ever wanted to see where magic actually comes from, this is it.

The line up may include Dom Chambers, Lawrence Leung, Simon Coronel and Vyom Sharma. Between them they have appeared on America’s Got Talent, Australia’s Got Talent and at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

The room holds 30 people. You are close enough to watch hands, faces and angles that no audience at a large venue ever gets to see. Magic at this distance is a different experience entirely. There is nowhere for a magician to hide.

Some of what you see will be extraordinary. Some of it will be the earliest version of something that goes on to headline internationally. All of it is new, and none of it has been performed anywhere before. That combination is very hard to find anywhere else in the world.

The audience matters here more than at a normal show. Reactions and feedback in the room shape what survives and what gets cut. You are not watching a finished product, you are watching it being built, helping shape it.

The Laneway Theatre is a small independent space in Northcote with a deliberately low profile. The exact address is not published. Ticket holders receive full directions by email before the show. It sits within easy reach by tram or train, and Northcote’s bars and restaurants are a short walk away if you want to make an evening of it.

Strictly 15+.