Renowned magician and New York Times crossword constructor David Kwong brings their critically acclaimed show The Enigmatist to London for its UK premiere at Wilton’s Music Hall. This immersive experience blends mind-bending magic with intricate puzzles, inviting audiences to become part of the mystery.
Following sold-out runs in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto, The Enigmatist has been hailed as “cerebral sorcery” and “breathtaking as a Houdini escape.” Kwong’s unique blend of illusion and intellect promises an unforgettable evening of surprises and revelations.
Performances run from Monday 24th to Saturday 29th November 2025. Book now via Wilton’s Music Hall.
You’re bringing The Enigmatist to Wilton’s Music Hall. What can you tell us about the show?
The Enigmatist is an evening of magic, puzzles, and cryptography. It’s an immersive, interactive show in which I perform brainy magic tricks and ask the audience to find clues hidden in plain sight.
I also tell the story of America’s first codebreakers in the Second World War. The UK had Bletchley Park – and the Americans had Riverbank, a fantastical, bizarre country estate just outside of Chicago.
The show’s puzzles are not meant to be too hard – they just stretch everyone’s brains a little. By the end of the show, everyone feels smarter!
The Enigmatist blends magic with puzzles. How do you come to combine these two worlds?
Yes, I am a magician and a New York Times crossword puzzle setter. I like to joke that I’ve taken the world’s two nerdiest hobbies and combined them into one career!
That’s because I think all magic tricks are puzzles. Both challenge your brain to find a solution. For a while, magic and puzzles existed as two separate, passionate hobbies of mine, but one day I had this realisation that I could cross-pollinate the two and create a brand-new type of cerebral magic.
You’ve performed the show across North America. What makes the UK premiere at Wilton’s Music Hall special?
I’m very excited about bringing the show to the UK because I know there’s a passionate puzzling community in London and such rich puzzling traditions!
For example, I love cryptic crosswords — which we don’t have in the US — and your game shows are so much headier! I really think it’s going to be a blast.
Audiences are invited to solve clues during the performance. How interactive is the experience?
The puzzling fun starts right when you arrive at the theatre. I’ve created a pre-show puzzle for people to solve as they grab a drink before the show.
And then, during the course of the evening, I ask the entire audience to figure out the mystery together. What I love so much about The Enigmatist is that it’s a family-friendly show.
The best moment is when a 12-year-old kid unlocks the final mystery box before any of the adults even knows what’s happening!
You’ve written books on illusion and puzzles. How do those ideas feed into your live performances?
Unlike most magicians, I don’t pretend to have superpowers. I acknowledge right up front that it’s all tricks and the science of fooling your brain.
In my books (most recently the kids’ book of tricks, How to Fool Your Parents), I enjoy pulling back the curtain and giving readers a greater understanding and appreciation for how magic tricks work.
So, in The Enigmatist, I tell everyone at the start of the show that the tricks they’re about to see are really puzzles for them to figure out.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking The Enigmatist?
Put on your thinking caps! This is an evening of brain-stretching puzzles and brain-breaking magic.
And bring your pub quiz team and your nerdy kids! I can’t wait to see London crack this code.
