Rufus Hound as The Mesmerist, credit to Ross Kernahan, DMLK Video
Theatres don’t forget.
Long after a production closes and the posters come down, buildings remember voices, footsteps and half-finished dreams. Occasionally, someone walks back through the doors carrying the past with them.
That is exactly what is happening at Watford Palace Theatre this spring, as comedian, actor and presenter Rufus Hound takes to the stage in The Mesmerist — a show he didn’t set out to make, based on a man he barely knew.
Following the death of his estranged grandfather, Hound discovered a collection of old boxes filled with magic props, journals and performance material. What initially looked like memorabilia destined for resale slowly revealed something far stranger: the remnants of a full stage act once performed under the name “The Mesmerist”… in the very same theatre now staging the production.
Rather than simply preserving the past, Hound chose to step into it, learning the illusions himself and rebuilding the performance from the fragments left behind.
Listen to him why he is learning magic with no safety net, reopening family history, and why theatre still matters in 2026.
- You’ve worked across comedy, drama, presenting and now you’re performing magic. What is it like learning a new skill for The Mesmerist?
I’m not sleeping much, put it that way! The thing with magic is that there’s no room for error – a trick either works or it doesn’t. There’s no talking your way out of it. In that way, it’s the closest thing I’ve done to stand-up. If a joke doesn’t land, there’s no point pretending it did. Audiences have incredibly attuned nonsense detectors, so the pressure to get it not just ‘good’ but ‘great’ is enormous.
- The Mesmerist was inspired by discovering your estranged grandfather’s boxes filled with magic and performance material. What was it like opening those up?
The man smoked like a chimney, so the first thing that hit me was the smell. I was only really going through everything to see what I could sell on to other magicians and realising it all reeked of cigarettes made my heart sink a bit. However, once it’s been aired for a few days and I’d seen what was there, the realisation dawned on me that, rather than just “a few magic props” he’d accumulated more than enough gear to build an entire show around. That’s when it started getting exciting.
- You’ve said that you didn’t really know your grandfather. Did creating The Mesmerist feel like a way of starting a conversation with that part of your family history?
I’m largely avoiding answering this question, because I’m worried that it makes me sound like I’m on an episode of The X Factor. Let’s just say that it’s hard to go through an estranged relatives belongings and not see the ties that bind that one may, hitherto, have been blind to or ignorant of.
- You’ve spent years working across theatre, TV and live performance. What keeps theatre exciting for you at this stage of your career?
In 2026, what keeps me excited is the prospect of getting to actually do any. The industry has been absolutely hammered since 2020 so trying to make a living ‘treading the boards’ is becoming nigh on impossible.
That said, every play/musical/show is an opportunity to give an audience a night they’ll never forget, and that’s a drug that’s hard to put aside. When I saw Rylance in Jerusalem, Gough in People Places Things, Matilda, Groundhog Day The Musical… those are gifts from the universe that I was given. The idea of being part of that gifting for someone else? Unquittable.
- When audiences leave The Mesmerist, what do you hope they take away from the show?
I want them to keep saying “Wow!” all the way home. And to think: “I bet he was better at this than his Grandad was”!
- You’ve worked with Steve Marmion, Chief Executive and Director of Programming for Watford Palace Theatre, on a show in Soho Theatre before. What is it like reuniting fourteen years later to work on The Mesmerist?
We drink a lot more tea than we used to, and our knees make louder noises when we stand up, but other than that, no real difference. Steve still has the sense of humour of a twelve-year-old boy.
- The show mixes storytelling, theatre and magic. How did you work together to find the right balance between performance and illusion?
Trial and error. We’ve probably written and rewritten the script six times since we started and I don’t think that’ll stop, even once we’re open.
- What does Watford Palace Theatre offer as a place for magic, and why does it feel like the right home for a show like The Mesmerist?
This is the theatre that my Granddad tried his show out in over forty years ago. It’d feel wrong performing it lethally anywhere else!
- Family lies at the heart of the story. Why do you think this theme is particularly relevant to audiences today?
What we want to feel is that we belong – especially in a social media driven world that’s forever highlighting our differences. My Grandad was family that I never really knew, so do I feel that I owe him something.
You’ll have to come and see the show to find that out
The Mesmerist runs at Watford Palace Theatre from 2–21 March 2026 and promises a blend of storytelling, illusion and memory’s strange persistence. Sometimes theatre tells a story. Sometimes it finishes one.
About the Author
