Hard on the heels of Derren Brown's mind-bending West End show, his professorial counterpart from the US, Marc Salem, returns to London. As Salem might say: "Coincidence? I think not." Clearly Britain is redeveloping a taste for the paranormal - and when the shows are as thrilling as Salem's, it's easy to see why. An expert in non-verbal communication, he insists that "there is nothing supernatural in what I've done here tonight". But no matter. His act is astonishing, whether or not it's bona fide mind-reading.
The show, Mind Games, hasn't changed since its 2001 debut. But it benefits from repeated viewing. This time I hoped I might penetrate the smoke and mirrors to the rational explanation beyond. But there is no smoke and there are no mirrors. The Tricycle is an intimate, informal space and, unlike Brown (who was in the audience), Salem is a low-key showman. His background is academic, which only heightens one's credulity. How can you resist the authority of a performer whose previous employer was the FBI?
The foundation of Salem's act is his casual ability to perceive the numbers, letters and pictures he asks us to visualise. From this, he derives a first-half masterclass in how our body language gives us away. One exercise sees him ruthlessly separate liars from truth-tellers; it's easy to see why he was deployed on the OJ Simpson case. But there's no way his barnstorming finale can be explained by non-verbal communication - not least because Salem has 50p coins duct-taped over his eyelids. Even after several viewings, this climax defies explanation. In the audience, jaws hit the floor and confirmed sceptics can be heard singing Hosanna.
You're not often entertained, educated and flummoxed in one sitting. Words, says Salem, account for only 7% of human communication, so I won't waste them. Go see him.
· Until August 8. Box office: 020-7328 1000.
