Showing @ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh until Fri 8 July @ 7:00pm

It’s enough to make a Daily Mail reader’s head explode but it has to be admitted that the stars of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival of Magic are three young men from the other side of the Channel.

Parallel Realities at The Scottish Storytelling Centre features Florian Sainvet, Xavier Mortimer and Dion – two Frenchman and a Dutchman – who are all in the illusion business and even though the principles of what they do are the same, their individual approaches to the artform couldn’t be more different.

Dion was undoubtedly the most stylish of the trio, augmenting his prodigious sleight of hand with the grace of a dancer. He leapt across the stage scattering playing cards and producing flowers out of thin air as he went.

This was an afternoon show and with a room full of small children it might have been feared that his classic style would prove too slow for them, but throughout his act they were quiet apart from the odd gasp and they were clearly transfixed by his wizardry.

A question often asked is who buys CDs these days? Well the answer is clearly Florian Sainvet who goes through at least a hundred of them in the course of his act. In a twist on traditional card magic Sainvent made disc after disc appear at one point producing seven in each hand. Ironically his electro-pop show – all florescent colours and fast beats – almost didn’t happen when his backing CD began to skip but he held his robot pose and his nerve and put on an impressive display.

The ultimate star of the show was Xavier Mortimer, who appeared four times during the show to amaze, amuse and discombobulate his audience. His act, a mixture of magic, mime and clowning might sound like some people’s idea of hell, but Mortimer is such an engaging performer and a bizarrely talented magician that it all works.

In the show he fought with disconnected limbs, danced with a gravity defying broom and transformed himself into a waiter – and later from shop floor worker to debonair dancer all with bewildering speed and showmanship. Many of the children leaving the show were convinced he had real magical powers and, although they might not admit to it, some of the adults probably agreed with them.

Matching performance skill to magical ability is probably the most difficult trick to pull off in the world of conjuring, but all three of these young and freakishly gifted magicians have proved to be masters of the art. This is a small festival and I would recommend you see everything you can, but if there is one show you shouldn’t miss it’s Parallel Realities.