talkmagic.co.uk

Right, comments requested so comments forthcoming - all purely my own opinion and not representative of anyone else OK?!

As has been said before, this programme wasn’t made for Magicians so it will be difficult to reach the sort of standards where we all agree that it was super-duper. Having said that, this second show was still weak in some areas. The sucker routine with the spec and David Hasslehoff on a wire wasn’t all that magical, even the ‘kicker’ ending was telegraphed ahead of time. Car over cliff was OK but seemed so reminiscent of things seen on Magic Secrets Revealed. The Tee shirt thing was flawed as Jason Latimer stated right at the start that there were ‘52 shirts of different letters’ – so how come the word revealed had two letters the same? The card trick(s) in the pub weren’t particularly gripping, nice to see the finger blisters reveal but the ash on arm has been done to death. The four card trick where everyone was encouraged to join in went on far too long, and I lost interest after about the fourth ‘shuffle’. The walking on sword blades forfeit, of course, also featured in the first series so wasn’t all that gripping.

Overall I thought Pete Firman’s stuff was the most entertaining on the night; as has already been mentioned, the show seemed to rely heavily on (presumably) hired big box stuff and dealer items which isn’t a sin but somehow lacked a certain cohesion. Noticeably the show almost ran over time and I’d hope that the next shows reduce some of the unnecessary interaction with the ‘celebs’. The guest acts last week didn’t impress but, in the case of the second performer, I’m not a fan of card manipulation acts – once a few fans of cards have been produced and discarded, why do the same things over and over again? This week’s guest was better but seemed a bit rushed, perhaps the time element meant a bit of speeding up of things? Good to see Scott Penrose is involved; he would be an excellent choice as a guest magician on one of these shows. I've just realsied why the presenter is so distracting, he suddenly starts strolling across the stage at various times - if he stood still and did the links in one spot it would seem far more natural. The Tux was good this week!

If all this sounds rather negative then I offer my apologies but there’s a stack of talent in this show and it ought to be given a freer rein to show us what they can really do. Barry and Stuart can hold an audience’s attention on their own for a couple of hours and Pete Firman can easily do the same, all three of them giving a solid evening’s entertainment. Lerrem loose I say!

I thought this was the best show of the two series so far. I thought Darren McMullen was energetic and enthusiastic, which really helped to lift everything. The effects were generally great - meaning, dramatic and magical, not necessarily baffling to magicians but that's not what the show is about. Mandrake - I thought Latimer was clear in his explanation that each of the letters of the alphabet occurred twice - hence, 2 * 26 = 52 T-shirts, allowing two 'F's for HOFF (or two 'T's for KITT). Much as I dislike Revell-Horwood, I thought he was excellent in the show; the car escape grand illusion was great TV - a helicopter, explosions, clifftop escapes - it's hard to see how an effect could be any bigger or more spectacular. And Firman's brass band production was also just epic. I love how they're working in old classic dodges and self-workers like the arm rise and that four card trick, as well as all the shiny new stuff. Some of the audience reactions to the head chopper and the sword walk were brilliant. I've no doubt there were kids hiding behind sofas across the nation. Hearty congratulations are in order for everyone involved.

I think the point is to look past the technicalities and the fact that we've all seen most of this stuff a thousand times and see that it's (successfully) presenting magic as a form of entertainment that's worthy of people's attention at prime time on a saturday night. The material is new to most of the audience. It's inspiring a new generation of magicians. It's raising the prestige and status of magic.

hedges wrote:I thought Latimer was clear in his explanation that each of the letters of the alphabet occurred twice - hence, 2 * 26 = 52 T-shirts, allowing two 'F's for HOFF (or two 'T's for KITT)

Yes of course, eejit that I am I missed that point completely thanks for the correction, much appreciated! I was confusing 26 letters in the alphabet with 52 cards in a deck... I'll go sit in the corner with the dunce's hat on for an hour.....

Certainly this show was better than the first in this series but the recorded versions last year seemed better because they'd trimmed out the delays and unnecessary chatter to a certain extent. However, being a live show does make the whole thing more realistic.

I wonder what this Saturday will bring…….

Maybe it's just because I am not an old hand at this, but I'm seeing new tricks every week, and magicians that I like that I wouldn't otherwise get to watch. The show is far from perfect but it's hardly offensive, and while I preferred Fool us, there's no exposure in this one at least. I've recognized half the celebrities so far, and even if I don't like them it makes the tricks a bit different, having to incorporate them into it. I don't see what all the negativity is about, you got a prime time magic show, yes there have been better but isn't there always?

We moan when there's no magic on TV and when there is.....we still moan!

I think it's because one of the tennets of magic is to practise and rehearse every effect until it's as perfect as possible so when we see things which seem to us to be a little less than that we express our concerns in order to encourage improvements. Stuart & Barry and Pete Firman are all doing tours this year so if you get chance to see them live then do whatever you can to go and see them, you'll be even more gobsmacked!

Personally I enjoyed the first show much more than this one.
I thought Latimers card trick was dull whereas the first show had his laser illusion, which I enjoyed. Ok maybe not fair comparing a card trick to an illusion but i much preferred his laser illusion from the first show to this weeks. I just found the handing out of the T-shirts boring and Hoff over-acting as always, although yes great appearance by KITT!

Pete Firman is never afraid to laugh at himself and has that kind of 'cheeky chap' persona.

I must admit the more i see of Barry and Stuart the more i enjoy watching them, was not too sure about them in the last series but no doubting their skill.

Personally i enjoy Fool Us more. I've never really seen the point of the forfeit, why can't we just enjoy a magic show? Does it really matter who is 'best'? They are all skilled entertainers.
Having said that I will continue to watch, it's MAGIC after all!

I like the new American Card Magician, though his name escapes my mind at the moment.

I just hate Barry & Stuart... They think they're some kind of ultimate horror magic show when actually there stuff is pretty terrible...
They had 1 good trick which i enjoyed, the Coffee mug to maggots/other bugs... but you could easily figure out the method. The new Pete Firman guy... is more of a crappy comedian then a magician.. he's the type that think's he's absolutely hilarious, when in-fact he's just plain terrible.

Sorry Charlie, we don't publish methods or guesses at methods in public so you post has been edited somewhat. Whilst you’re entitled to your opinion of the performers, perhaps you haven't seen much of what Barry, Stuart and Pete can really do? Check out what they did on Dirty Tricks, Monkey Magic and other programmes in their earlier days – most can be found via Google. Even better, go see them live and enjoy a couple of hours of pure magic and comedy. Some of what they do is still gross and not exactly my cup of tea but it’s all entertaining stuff.

I was at the HOFF/KITT filming (pics on website) and it was delayed for two hours because (according to the Shepperton Studio guys) "the magic broke down"!

The KITT appearance was much better live than on TV. There were definitely 2 x 26 t-shirts thrown into the crowd. Most of the people who caught one put them on straight away, strange that the four people who went up the front for the reveal hadn't done that, eh? There were some minor reshoots and crowd shots but it was all done in about 30 mins, lots of people were annoyed about that after waiting so long beforehand. RED DWARF was being filmed in the studio next door! I had a chat to Paul Wilson who was running things (and no-one else recognised him despite Real Hustle) they all wanted to see The Hoff!

A story in todays local paper.

A pair of Norfolk friends will have a “magic” reunion on Saturday night ---They star in a pre-recorded trick involving a pair of illusionists and boxer David Haye carried out on a London rooftop.
The surprise coming together will be seen on BBC One’s the Magicians as Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod pluck 23-year-old Naomi Care, whose family live at Paston, at random from a pub using a spinning bottle. After whisking her away to a rooftop with a view of Canary Wharf she follows boxer David Haye doing a trick where he illuminates an unplugged light bulb - but has a bigger treat in store when she reunited with best friend Beth Martin from Aylsham.
Naomi and Beth, both 23, have known each other since they met at a North Walsham church aged seven. They went to sixth form together and spent a year travelling New Zealand, before Naomi was bridesmaid at supply teacher Beth’s wedding last summer - the last time they saw each other.
Naomi, currently a tutor at a school in Pimlico, said: “I have no idea how Beth got there. It was such a magic experience.”

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/bbc_s_the_magicians_show_reunites_two_north_norfolk_friends_from_paston_and_aylsham_1_1183132

Magic at it's finest!

Tonight's show includes Mel Giedroyc (the blond half of Mel and Sue), world heavyweight boxing champion David Haye, and Got to Dance judge Kimberly Wyatt.

Jason Latimer is paired with Kimberly Wyatt. As she's a dancer, I'm expecting him to romp it with a well choreographed piece like he did with the lasers.

Tomo wrote:I'm expecting him to romp it with a well choreographed piece

That almost went into the IB thread!

Mandrake wrote:

Tomo wrote:I'm expecting him to romp it with a well choreographed piece

That almost went into the IB thread!

Bad boy! Dirty boy! On your blanket!

For those of you who watched tonights show, what did you all think of it? I felt like I enjoyed this weeks episode more than the previous weeks. I particularly liked the card trick that Jason Latimer performed. I thought that Barry and Stuarts water to wine was cleverly accomplished and the Pineapple prediction that Pete did was fun too. (Who doesn't love banana costumes?!)

Edit: I also enjoyed all of the card productions that Juliana Chen performed!