Killer Magic -Episode 4

After the impressive tricks we saw in the last show, the competing magicians had to keep up the good work with a set of routines themed around "Time". Ben, Christopher, Damien, Dee and Jasz (who managed to survive last week's "Killer Trick" with barely a scratch on her neck) performed once each, and as usual, they needed to provide an impressive performance in order to avoid the "Killer Trick". This time, it would be a twisted variation on Russian Roulette.

(If You Haven't Watched This On BBC iPlayer Yet, the Following Will Contain Spoilers)

The Tricks

• Ben was first to perform, doing a routine in front of a couple of Science students. He began by putting his watch in his pocket, then appeared to transform a piece of ice into glass and blew on it, inflating it into a test tube. Next, he filled it with salt, then changed it into a sand timer. He then reversed the process, turning the timer back into an ice cube, making the salt return to the saltshaker, and making his watch reappear on his hand. The routine was not perfect (You can see the watch back on Ben's hand throughout the second half of the trick before he reveals it), but the presentation was engaging and the flaws are only apparent if you rewatch the performance closely. Ben received a score of 29.
• Before his performance, Damien confessed that he was not used to the style of magic he was going to provide. If he hadn't said this, I wouldn't have noticed, for he was as slick as usual. He asked two volunteers at a champagne bar to sign a coin with a significant year (In this case, 2000). Damien then made the coin pass through the bottom of an empty champagne bottle and appear inside it. He followed this by chilling and sealing the bottle with his bare hands, then making it fill with champagne. He finished by changing the date on the bottle into the chosen year. Although the first half of the routine wasn't that exciting, the transformation of the bottle was very impressive. Damien's competitors gave him a score of 31. 
• Chris themed his routine around journalism, promising to "Hack the Future". He hired a group of media and journalism students to serve as his staff and create a front page for his own newspaper, but not before receiving a private message from his future self revealing what the front page would be. Chris wrote this information on an envelope and stuck it on a banner in clear sight but out of reach; He got the students to choose a headline, strap-line, byline, picture and inside feature, before taking down the future message to reveal that it accurately predicted the front page created by the students. Because the mentalism he specializes in relies heavily on predicting the future, Chris probably found it easier to come up with a routine than his competitors, and I personally loved the presentation. However, his fellow magicians did not find the trick stunning enough, so he got a score of 27.
• Jasz went next, with a performance involving a rose bush and a theme of going back in time. She told a volunteer to sign a leaf, then removed it from the bush. She did some close-up tricks with it as she appeared to pull the signature off the leaf, then put it into a small box and turned it into a brown autumn leaf before making it vanish. She followed this by making the bush vanish as well, then finished the routine by restoring time to the present, making it reappear with the signed leaf attached and the signature intact. This was a very creative trick with a solid story line, but the magicians found the presentation flat and she only gained a score of 27.
• The final routine came from Dee, who added 76 years to someone's life using only his coat. He performed in a graveyard, telling two volunteers stories about the lives of the dead. He revealed a gravestone belonging to a boy who had died decades before. After transforming a withered rose into a fresh red one to put on the grave, he discussed how it was possible to prevent people from dying before their time. He then put his coat over the gravestone, and when he removed it, the date of the boy's death and the inscription had changed - it now told the story of a man who had lived a full and healthy life and died only recently at the ripe old age of 88. Whilst the concept behind the trick was fascinating, the conclusion was a bit of an anticlimax. Dee's competitors believed that it wasn't visual enough, and I agree- maybe he could have done something a bit more spectacular, such as making the boy (or at least an old man representing him) appear.  As a result of the weak conclusion, Dee received a low score of 24. 

The Forfeit

Damien was the winner and Dee the loser, so Dee had to do the "Killer Trick". Most Russian Roulette-themed tricks involve only one or two dangerous options, but here Dee was guaranteed to suffer several injuries. He was tethered to a chair with five ropes attached to different items: one was holding a bottle of Dee's favorite Whiskey, one was attached to his beard, one would drop hot candle wax onto his left hand, one would release a rat trap onto his right hand, and deadliest of all a fifth was attacked to Dee's ...erm..."highly masculine area". Damien told a doctor to pick four of the ropes at random, and these would be cut, releasing the deadly devices. Although Dee had some of his facial hair yanked off, his bottle of whiskey spilled, and his two hands injured, he managed to avoid castration. Killer Magic has always been a very edgy show, but this probably pushed the limits of what could be shown on TV, and was all the better for it. This was another "Killer Trick" that will get viewers talking.

The Verdict

As was the case in the last episode, the "Killer Trick" was the highlight, but the other tricks were good too. The theme was very unusual, as it was based on a concept rather than a fixed item (e.g toys or movies), but it inspired several strong performances. Killer Magic has been great fun to watch so far, and I hope that the remaining two episodes are just as good as this one. 

Killer Magic - Episode 3

This week, Ben, Chris, Damien, Dee and Jasz had to do tricks themed around "Money". On the surface, this seemed like a simpler theme then "Food", "Toys" or "Film", but it inspired a wide range of creative illusions. The "Killer Trick" that the loser had to perform would be the Guillotine, and our five magicians had to pull out all the stops to avoid it.

(If You Haven't Watched This On BBC iPlayer Yet, The Following Will Contain Spoilers)

The Tricks

• Damien was the first to perform, and he did his routine in a pub. He asked a volunteer to provide him with a £5 note and sign it. He then turned the paper note into five £1 coins. He put them all into a nearby fruit machine, and eventually got three matching oranges on the machine, winning three real oranges as a prize. Damien told his volunteer to select one of them, then cut the chosen orange open to reveal the signed banknote. This was a bit of an old trick, but the use of slot machines in the set-up provided an interesting twist and made the climax more impressive. Damien's competitors also appreciated the unique aspects of the performance, and gave him a score of 31.
• Ben went next, hiring comedian Joel Dommett to assist him for a shadow-themed routine performed with four half-dollar coins. He began by moving the four coins with only the shadow of his hands, then made Joel sign the four coins, with a letter from his name on each one. He put one coin in each of the pockets of Joel's coat using a pair of tweezers, then utilized "Sleight-of-shadow" to make all the coins appear in one pocket. The decision to avoid physical contact, and the use of sound as the coins audibly fell into the chosen pockets at exactly the right moments, made the trick far harder to figure out. Ben received a score of 32.
• Having done two "Killer Tricks" and narrowly avoided a third in "Film" week, Dee had to provide a great routine in order to end his run of unimpressive performances. He updated the ancient art of Alchemy with a series of quick-fire tricks. First of all, he turned a scrap of paper into a silver leaf, then melted a silver ring in his hand. Next, he extracted a drop of the molten silver, then turned it into a coin. The coin was soon turned into a credit card, which was signed by a volunteer. Dee finished his routine by putting the credit card in an envelope, making it vanish, then reproducing the signed card from within the zipped section of his wallet. Dee received a 10 out of 10 from Jasz, but his fellow competitors were less impressed. However, Dee still received a solid total of 31.
• Chris themed his trick around a birthday party. He got a group of volunteers to pick a novelty birthday card each, write a message inside it, and put it in an envelope. One volunteer who had some cash on him was instructed to put the money into his card before he sealed it inside his envelope. Chris had the identical envelopes shuffled, then, without opening them, returned the cards which did not contain money. He was left with the envelope containing money. Chris correctly predicted the message on the greeting card, and the age on it, but got the value of the money wrong. Nonetheless, he provided an impressive finish, revealing that the ages on the other eight greeting cards formed a correct prediction of the serial number on the banknote. This was an creative price of mentalism, but the other magicians felt the trick was too complicated and gave him a score of 28.
• Jasz was the last to perform, and did a routine at an antiques shop. She used a roller to turn an empty sheet of paper into a novelty banknote. Next, she put in a second sheet at an unusual angle, with an incomplete impression of a £20 note appearing on both sides. She got a volunteer to stamp a thumbprint on a third sheet, then put it straight through the roller to reveal a fully printed banknote with the thumbprint still on. The trick was entertaining, but not as impressive as the previous four, so Jasz received a score of 26.

The Forfeit

Ben was the winner and Jasz the loser, so Jasz had to endure the Guillotine trick. Her head would be covered and placed beneath a sharp blade, which would be released onto her neck. The idea was that the blade would go through her neck, but leave her unharmed. However, the trick did not go to plan. Instead of surviving unscathed, Jasz appeared to be decapitated. The episode ended on this cliffhanger, so you have to tune in next week to see if Jasz escaped in time. Concluding a magic show with the apparent death of the magician is not new, as Paul Daniels and Penn and Teller have both done this in the past. However, using this tactic here demonstrates how dangerous the "Killer Trick" can be, even though Jasz probably didn't suffer any real injury - she is a magician after all!

The Verdict

This was the best episode of Killer Magic to date, with all five magicians providing tricks that were creative and made good use of the theme. The shocking conclusion was also effective. On its own, a "Killer Trick" would be scary to watch, but a competent magician (such as the five on this show) can perform it without suffering any problems. By forcing the losing magicians to perform these tricks as punishments for failure, and using them for the climax of the show, Killer Magic makes them seem far more dangerous and therefore more impressive, even though the magicians are not in any real danger as long as they prepare properly. By ending with a "Killer Trick" appearing to go horribly wrong, Killer Magic got the viewers talking, and that is what all good magic shows should be doing.

Killer Magic - Episode 2

In the second (third if you count the pilot) episode of Killer Magic, our five magicians had to do tricks themed around "Film".The movie industry owes its popularity to the art of illusion, with the magician George Méliès being one of the most notable pioneers of the medium. The numerous iconic movies made in the years since Méliès picked up a camera provided an infinite number of opportunities for  Ben, Chris, Damien, Dee and Jasz. As usual, they had to provide the most impressive routines they could if they wanted to get the highest possible score and avoid the dreaded "Killer Trick".

(If You Haven't Watched the Show on BBC iPlayer, the Following Will Contain Spoilers)

The Tricks

• Damien started the show with a close-up routine inspired by superhero movies. He performed in front of a volunteer in a cafe, and revealed his three favorite superpowers, doing a trick for each one. He began with the power of controlling the elements, and demonstrated this by setting a scrap of paper on fire, then turning it into a block of ice. He followed this with a trick in which he manipulated metal by bending a signed coin held inside the volunteer's hand. Finally, he proved that he was capable of super speed by making the coin vanish and reappear in a half-empty glass of tea on another table. Whilst the theme of superheros could have inspired a more spectacular routine, Damien provided a competent performance. The other magicians agreed that his routine was solid and gave him a score of 28. 
• Jasz was second to perform, providing a trick inspired by silent movies. She performed with her mouth sealed by duct tape, and provided instructions to her audience by using cue cards. One of the spectators was instructed to choose a card by counting to a random part of the deck. Jasz then made the chosen card vanish, and when she removed the tape from her lips, she revealed that it had been in her mouth the whole time. I've seen this trick before, so I was able to figure out the final reveal early, which diminished my enjoyment of the routine. Nonetheless, I liked the presentation, and Jasz's competitors did as well. She also earned a score of 28.
• For the next performance, Ben invited the Children's TV hosts Sam and Mark to a cinema, where he did a number of small tricks themed around the movie-going experience. He began by making popcorn kernels appear in his cap, then produced a stream of sugar. He poured the kernels and sugar into an empty wheelie bin, then did a close-up illusion in which he restored an empty can of soft drink to its original condition. He finished by triggering an explosion inside the wheelie bin, and revealed that it was now filled to the brim with sweet popcorn. I enjoyed the presentation and liked the final trick, but the other illusions weren't as impressive, and Ben spent a bit too much time on them, The other magicians gave him a score of 27.
• Chris did a routine combining movies and mentalism. He told an audience of film students to write down their favorite films and put their choices in a glass bowl. He then told a couple of his volunteers to stand up, and successfully guessed the movies they had chosen. After doing this, Chris got another audience member to guess his favorite film by answering questions. Her answers matched the ones Chris gave, and he eventually revealed that his chosen movie was the Disney hit Frozen. Chris finished his performance by making a snowstorm appear from his bare hands whilst lip-syncing to the film's most iconic song, "Let It Go". Personally, I didn't think that this was an especially great performance. The opening was good, but I felt that the climax was weak, as Frozen was a predictable choice and the final trick was not that spectacular. However, "Let It Go" is a terrific song, and I enjoyed the miming. Chris received an impressive score of 30. 
• Finally, Dee provided a trick with a horror theme. He opened a box full of scary dolls, each one representing a different monster (Zombies, Voodoo Dolls, etc). He then told his volunteer to choose one of them, and she chose the doll with the image of a Clown on it. Dee then set up a tent, and made a scary clown appear inside it. The set-up was atmospheric, but the trick itself was a little bit cliched. Dee's competitors gave him a score of 27. 

The Forfeit

Chris was the winner, but there was a tie for last place between Ben and Dee, Therefore, Chris got to choose the magician who would have to face the "Killer Trick" and chose Ben. This week, the "Killer Trick" was the Table of Death. Chris tied Ben to a table beneath a column of spikes suspended by a rope. He set the rope on fire, and Ben had to escape before the spikes fell on him. The fire burnt through the rope quicker than expected, and the spikes appeared to hit Ben. However, he then appeared on top of them, completely unharmed. This was a far better "Killer Trick" than last week's, because it relied on a big climax rather than a long wait, and Chris provided a strong presentation, successfully building up suspense and making the final reveal even more impressive.

My Verdict

Although the "Killer Trick" was great, this week's episode was a little disappointing when you consider the vast amount of possibilities the magicians had. I understand the need to focus on smaller-scale magic, as it is usually very hard to figure out and fits both the competing magicians and the show's dark and unconventional tone better than a lavish trick performed on a giant stage. I also believe that the magicians provided good performances and made the theme fit their respective styles, However, I felt that the tricks were a bit boring and not as impressive as the ones we saw last week. Movies rely on spectacle and creativity to stand out, and I believe that the magicians should have provided tricks that were a bit more breathtaking and less traditional if they wanted to utilize the full potential of the theme.