D and I went along to the Peacock theatre tonight to see what 7 Fingers could do for us. Ha ha. 7 Fingers are the circus troupe behind Psy: psychological disorders as presented via acrobatics and juggling. How you may ask? Very well I answer. Heh heh. The last show I saw by 7 Fingers was Traces which was excellent and I am pleased to say that Psy equally delivers.

The show opens with facts about mental illnesses etc. and epilepsy mixed in with messages about switching your phone off – typical disclaimers twisted the original 7 Fingers way. I like how shows more and more now are thinking about the whole performance right from the start and including it as part of the show.

The cast of Psy comprise of 11 performers each who are to represent a particular mental illness such as addition, agoraphobia, multiple personality disease, OCD, insomnia (there is a brilliant Chinese pole act associated with this one) etc. and though at times the allusions are a little wide of the mark for the most part the perfomers are able to deliver their characters and that’s a feat considering it was all done with circus skills. But clearly being a circus performer is not just about being able to juggle, do a handstand, swing on the trapeze or work a giant wheel but you also have to have personality, act and, in the case of Psy, also be able to dance!

Some of the more impressive acts, in addition to the Chinese pole one, included the massive group juggling act and the swing act finale (basically people jumping all over the place and from all over.) Note however that for all the good though there were also occasions of weirdness such as a bizarre knife-throwing section which I couldn’t fully comprehend. The show also got quite a bit dark in spots which I didn’t think were entirely necessary.

This is a jaw-dropping show and will have your eyes popping out. You’ve never seen circus quite like this.