The Magicians-Episode 6

In the final episode of the series, our magicians really pulled out the stops, as we saw all sorts of wonderful tricks. But only one magician could win...

Jason Latimer + George Sampson (Streetdancer and Actor)

LIVE GRAND: Latimer and George manipulated water, shaping it into balls and a couple of roses. They then made several fountains of water appear, as George finished with a dance routine. Hard to figure out and very original

STREET GRAND: George vanished 5 volunteers inside a moving lorry, and Latimer made them appear inside another lorry just in front. An amazing trick, and very hard to figure out.

STREET CLOSE: At Manchester airport, George turned several foreign banknotes into British ones, and Latimer turned a leaflet into more money. The presentation was good, but the trick was routine.

LIVE CLOSE: George and Latimer vanished a volunteers ring. They then showed a prediction box suspended in an elastic cord. They removed it, anticipating that the ring would be in the box, but it wasn't. Instead, the ring was revealed as holding up the elastic. A clever spin on a classic trick that made it just a little bit harder to figure out.

Pete Firman + Joe Swash (TV personality)

LIVE GRAND: Pete cooked a chicken using magic, then turned Joe into an over-tanned old man with a malfunctioning tanning machine. A funny and entertaining trick

STREET GRAND: In an aquarium, Pete got into a tank, and predicted a fish thought of by the volunteer. He then walked through the glass without causing any damage to the glass or leaking water. Quite hard to figure out, especially in the controlled environment

STREET CLOSE: Pete and Joe did a spin on the Card in window trick. They had a volunteer pick a card, and a card in a shop window turned itself over to match the chosen card. They then had another card picked, and made that card switch places with the one in the window. A good trick, well performed.

LIVE CLOSE: Pete ate a maggot and made it appear in his eye. Yuck!

Barry and Stuart + Ed Byrne (Comedian)

LIVE GRAND: Barry and Stuart made Ed appear from a shadow box. They then repeated the trick, with a split screen showing the views from in front and behind (This view exposed the workings of the trick). However, this time, two assistants had appeared in the box with Ed. An amusing trick, but the twist was not hard to figure out.

STREET GRAND: After doing a cut and restored rope trick with the rope holding a balloon. Ed went onto a ledge for a bungee jump. Barry and Stuart cut the rope, but it restored itself, preventing Ed from hitting the ground. A great spin on an old favourite.

STREET CLOSE: Barry and Stuart had a volunteer choose a card and sign it. They then put it in an air cannon. As Ed raced past on a minibike, they fired the cannon, and the signed card appeared in Ed's visor. A pretty creative trick.

LIVE CLOSE: Barry and Stuart did mentalism with piranhas. First of all, they revealed a volunteers chosen animal by chewing holes in a slice of meat to form its name. They then had a volunteer pick a question from a trivial pursuit card at random. Barry put his hand into the tank, and the piranha bites formed the answer to the chosen question. Amusing and original, but some aspects of the trick are easy to figure out on repeated viewings (The way Barry holds his bitten hand makes it look fake)

Were there any guests?

Hans Klok, star of Last years Palladium magic show, beat his own record with a staggering 12 tricks in 5 minutes (The world record is 15, set by JC Sum and Magic Babe Ning in Singapore in 2009) He did the following tricks...

1. Appearing from a levitated cardboard box
2. Making an assistant appear in a glass tube
3. Making another assistant appear in a chair
4. Making a third assistant appear in a cage
5. Switching places with an assistant chained to a wall
6. Tuning a giant diamond into another assistant
7. Switching places with an assistant from inside a locked box
8. Card Manipulations
9. Switching places with an assistant from inside a glass box
10. Vanishing an assistant in a chair
11. Making a fifth assistant appear from thin air
12. Switching places with an assistant from inside a locked box suspended in midair

Pretty impressive, huh?

Who Did the Forfeit?

Latimer was announced as the winner of the episode (And the overall winner of the series, with three victories) Whilst Barry and Stuart lost and had to do the forfeit for the first time this series. Barry and Ed bent an iron bar with their teeth, before Stuart took Barry's place and broke an arrow held against his neck.

What did I think of this Series?

This series of the magicians was great. The live format worked, the performers were great, but above all, the tricks were superb. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

The Magicians-Episode 5

In the penultimate episode of The Magicians, we had another impressive array of tricks, including a unique taste test, a disappearing donkey, and a portal to America. But who won and who ended up having to do another dangerous forfeit?

Pete Firman + Arlene Phillips (Choreographer/ Former Strictly Come Dancing Judge)

LIVE GRAND: Arlene got into a box with a compressible inside, which Pete put two brooms into and compressed, revealing the box to be empty. Arlene then appeared in the audience. A simple but solid trick with good presentation, though not great.

LIVE CLOSE: Pete vanished a signed card and made it appear beneath a volunteer. Said volunteer was posing as the magician, and the cards Pete used were too large to palm easily. A very hard trick to figure out.

STREET GRAND: On Weymouth beach, Pete and Arlene made a donkey vanish in a tent and reappear on the pier. Another clever trick, which was amusing and quirky.

STREET CLOSE: In an arcade, Pete and Arlene vanished a volunteer's ring and made it appear in a randomly chosen rubber duck. I like it, but the English seaside theme had already been used in Pete's donkey trick, making it a bit boring.

Barry and Stuart + John Torrode and Greg Wallace (Masterchef judges)

LIVE GRAND: A large scale version of the find-the-pea hustle game, where Barry and Stuart had a volunteer try and pick which of three giant cups had Greg's head under it. However, after a few games of it, Greg's head had vanished, and it was revealed that Greg had vanished completely from the cabinet the cups were on top of, to be replaced by John. Greg was in a nearby crate. It is a trick that is far better to watch then describe, and very hard to figure out.

LIVE CLOSE: A meh interactive trick, where they did the "Take x steps in this direction to a (Not actually) random choice" effect, and predicted the foodstuff chosen using this method with a fake barcode.

STREET GRAND: At the Tate Modern, Barry, Stuart and Greg vanished a volunteer's iPhone. It appeared in a bag held by John, who was suspended in a harness above the building. Very hard to figure out.

STREET CLOSE: At London's Medieval banquet, Greg mentally conferred the taste of food he was eating into the mouth of a blindfolded volunteer with only a stick of plain chewing gum in her mouth. A very original and effective trick.

Jason Latimer + Phill Tufnell (Cricketer and TV Personality)

LIVE GRAND: Latimer and Phill Did a walking-through-a-mirror trick, then produced a volunteer's distant cousin (Who lived in America). Another talking point trick. Whilst it was clear the volunteer was not chosen at random, the trick was still impressive, with the sides and base of the mirror being seemingly too narrow to accommodate a person.

LIVE CLOSE: A chosen card vanished from a deck and appeared in Latimers pocket. Latimer was in a glass booth for the whole trick. Not hard to figure out, but well presented.

STREET GRAND: Latimer and Phill  had a volunteer choose part of a specially painted mural, then revealed a correct prediction in a variety of ways: In a sealed canvas,on a cup, on a shirt... The one problem was the volunteer claiming to be unimpressed at the end (She felt she should have chosen a more distinct part of the mural). However, we can still tell she was amazed by it!

STREET CLOSE: Latimer linked rings worn by three volunteers in a wineglass. He unlinked them, then passed one onto the stem of a wineglass. Wow!

Who were the guests?

Les Chapeux Blancs, a French magic combining mime, black lights and imagination to perform a string of unique levitations, appearances, and vanishes. Best guest appearance so far!

What were the results?

Latimer got his second win, but Pete and Arlene were less lucky, having to do the forfeit, which this time, was pretty spectacular. An archer shot an arrow off Arlene's head, William Tell Style. If that wasn't enough, he did it on a revolving platform, as well as catching Arlene's ring, which he put in the apple, on the arrow. Cool.

NEXT WEEK: In the final episode of the series, streetdancer George Sampson, Comedian Ed Byrne, and TV personality Joe Swash join The Magicians. But will Barry and Stuart or Latimer get the most wins this series? And who will do the forfeit?