talkmagic.co.uk

So I was watching BGT the other night when a young man named Magic-Al came on. He did some levitation and transformation thingy with a ten pound note and after he got rejected, Simon turned to Amanda and said that he (Simon) should be a magician because he would be the best magician in the world.

Which got me thinking...

Firstly Simon Cowell would be the worst magician in the world.

Secondly, if, say, Dai Vernon went onto Britains Got Talent, do you think he would get very far?

Charlie Miller? Ed Marlo?

I know these are close-up magicians, but they are none-the-less entertaining to watch, however big their audience. And their names a firmly stapled into magic's history.

Just a thought I guess.

Didn't see this episode but have seen all the other magicans over the couple of years it's been shown. I honestly think it would take some pretty decent magic act to get anywhere on this programme. The rapour needed isn't as instant as a singer for example & having Cowell sat there who can tell if someone is any good at singing within a second or two just doesn't work for many other acts. He doesn't give them the time needed to establish a relationship with the audience.

I've said it before & i'll say it again, why do people go on this show? They spend years building up a reputation & customers only to have it blown out of the water for the sake of being on telly.

Russ

I think that it was all summed up last week then Simon said of a three year old kid that he was the best magician that he'd ever seen audition. I'm not knocking the kiddie and it's encouraging to think that there are youngsters that still want to learn magic and aren't put off by the ridicule that the judges vent on some types of act.

Now, I know that a certain very talented magician recently auditioned and didn't get through the selectionprocess for the TV stages, yet was selected to go onto an international show, such is his calibre.

I also think that BGT is very very selective in who they pick and that they only want the magicians that will be amongst the acts that make everyone cringe.

It's just not worth the risk of having a reputation that you've worked hard to build up, ruined by what appears to be a vendetta.

i've not watched tv for nearly a year - so i've no idea what you lot are on about...

however, i hope no one goes on these shows expecting decency and respect? thats not what they are there for...

they are there for us to feel good about ourselves, mock the inflicted and
to be honest, i dont need that show to enable me to do either...

oh and then pick someone that'll make simon cowell a shed load of money...

russpie wrote:I've said it before & i'll say it again, why do people go on this show? They spend years building up a reputation & customers only to have it blown out of the water for the sake of being on telly.

I think that most people who go on this programme don't have a reputation to damage. They are hoping to take a shortcut past the process of working their way up, and want to hit the big time from nothing. Fair play, I say. But the price is 99 per cent chance of humiliation.

A good magician will never win Britain's Got Talent. And frankly, good, the kind of people who watch that show need rounded up and drowned.

dat8962 wrote:I think that it was all summed up last week then Simon said of a three year old kid that he was the best magician that he'd ever seen audition. I'm not knocking the kiddie and it's encouraging to think that there are youngsters that still want to learn magic and aren't put off by the ridicule that the judges vent on some types of act.

.

ah, he's five, and a right little star.

i was looking at some photos of him yesterday.. so sweet!

and i would like to put money on this little one becoming a huge magical name in the future.




http://www.thisissussex.co.uk/eastgrins ... llery.html

babyshanks wrote:So I was watching BGT the other night when a young man named Magic-Al came on. He did some levitation and transformation thingy with a ten pound note and after he got rejected, Simon turned to Amanda and said that he (Simon) should be a magician because he would be the best magician in the world.

Which got me thinking...

Firstly Simon Cowell would be the worst magician in the world.

Secondly, if, say, Dai Vernon went onto Britains Got Talent, do you think he would get very far?

Charlie Miller? Ed Marlo?

I know these are close-up magicians, but they are none-the-less entertaining to watch, however big their audience. And their names a firmly stapled into magic's history.

Just a thought I guess.

Magica Al was if i remember rightly not actually that good. I mean the presenter was also a magician...now he outstaged magic al and if you think you are good enough to perform magic for the queen you should be nothing but the best out there otherwise you give the queen and royal family a bad impression of magicians casing simon cowels tar to get stickier.

I never had a problem with X factor and Britons got talent until they started allowing children to enter.

We recognize Britons got talent, X factor and other shows of this ilk are exploitative shams, that will not get you a real career in showbiz and will in fact chew you up and spit you out as the 'flavor of the month'. So why are we okay with these shows exploiting children?

I watched a clip of Thomas performing the bird cage illusion and it was just as I expected, good, insomuch as the prop was good, but are we really going to belive this five year old has the experience and skill to create his own magic? Would he have passed performing that trick if he was in his thirties?

Anyone who owns this prop can do this trick, so Thomas is doing something anyone can do while being exploited based on his age.

Why are we okay with this?

There is a theory that celebrities turn to drugs as a way to recreate the 'high' that comes from performing to thousands for screaming fans. It's also probably due to the groupies, suck ups and hangers on that inevitably follow fame and success, not to mention the fact that very few people say 'no' to a celebrity. At least some adults have the maturity to recognize this and avoid it. How can we expect child stars to differentiate between reality and Hollywood when they've spent the majority of their lives in the lime light?

We don't like to think of Britney Spears and Michelle Jackson as child stars now that we're vilifying them, so apart from them I found a list of different child stars and the problems they endured.

River Phoenix- died of a drug overdose at the age 23 in a Hollywood nightclub.

Drew Barrymore- Barrymore has rebounded over the years to the point where she is now a credible actress and producer, but at the age of 13 she entered rehab for drug and alcohol problems.

Corey Feldman- Part of the legendary "two corey's" duo of the 80's. The former Goonies star had to go to rehab for drug problems at the age of 19.

Dana Plato- played Kimberley on Diff'rent Strokes. Killed herself in 1999 at the age of 34.

Todd Bridges- another Diff'rent Strokes alumni, Bridges was arrested then later acquitted on charges of murder and assault.

Edward Furlong- The Terminator 2 star has had a long troubled history with drugs. Arrested for cocaine and marijuana possession along with grand theft.

And even if this doesn't turn him into a freak or a felon, its still wrong. He's five years old! How can he know what he wants to be?

Imagine peaking before your twenty, in fact imagine peaking before you ten what are you going to do with the rest of you life?

We have no doubt that these shows are exploiting people for money, so why is it acceptable to do it to children?

When is this country going to recognize the damage that this show could do to its child participants who don't know any better and shouldn't have to. When are we going to say, enough of this vile exploitation?

Jean Eugene Roberts wrote:By the second definition Thomas is a child prostitute.

I think that you are making a massive jump in your reasoning here. Putting a child into a talent contest isn't to everyone's taste but comparing that to something as utterly horrendous as child prostitution is just bizzare.

i agree with Ted.
I do hope that his mum and dad dont google for stuff on him, because if they come across this, they would be horrified. And rightly so!

Jean - speaking of protecting children..... can you remove the f profanity ...... There are kids on this forum after all.... !!

(Not calling anyone specific a kid lolol...)

F x

(Note from Mods - edited a bit more for the same reason as mentioned)

Of course what's being done to Thomas is no where near as bad as sexual child prostitution, however my point still stands. A five year old is being exploited by the industry and his parents for fame and money, and while the parents may be stupid enough to think what they're doing is good. Britons got talent knows what its doing, knows how it could badly affect his life and doesn't care.

And like I said, by the dictionary's own definition he is a child prostitute. Not my definition, the actual definition, and that is offensive.

If you haven't done so yet, and you should have, grab a copy of Ben Elton's Chart Throb. Not a great fan of the man, but that's just my opinion and don't take this as a literary review, I came across it and am a sufferer of "will read anything, and give any book a fair crack of the whip" syndrome but after reading it, I've never been able to watch TV talent shows without adding the labels. Those who've read it will know what I'm on about, those who haven't should try it.

Just to be controversial ....

How do you know this kid doesnt really want this?...

Yes there are parents who live their lives through their kids and push them into fame for their own ends...

However there are kids who want a life on the stage or whatever...

I know at 4 I wanted that.... I had my first taste of the stage and I loved it and had a burning desire at that age which i followed.. Ok we are not talking fame and fortune, but I know I loved it and it was what I wanted to do and did for many many years....

Its ok to have an opinon, but we dont know the child, parents or circumstances as to the way he came to be on that stage.... so for that reason we cannot judge...

F x