The auditions stage of America's Got Talent is over, and this week sees the start of the Judges Cuts, where the judges will select acts to compete at the Live Shows, which will be held once again at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The successful auditions of 111 acts have been shown during the last seven weeks. This collection of acts includes a record 10 magicians (not including those whose auditions went untelevised), all hoping to emulate Mat Franco's victory last year.
Which Magicians Are Competing at the Judges Cuts?
The 10 magicians who were shown making it through to the next round are:
- Chris Jones
Chris Jones is not really a magician. He's actually a hypnotist, but many notable magicians, such as Derren Brown, have used hypnotism in their routine, so I'm including him on this blog. Chris used judge Howie Mandel as his volunteer. Howie is noted for his fear of germs, so Chris hypnotised him into thinking that he was wearing gloves, and Howie was able to shake Chris' bare hand. On the judges' request, he hypnotised Howie a second time, causing him to be able to shake hands with the other judges. This type of act has never been seen on Americas Got Talent before, and Chris was certainly a skilled hypnotist. However, there were two problems with the audition. The first was the slow build-up at the beginning of the act. This caused judge Howard Stern to hit his X (although he took it back after the performance), and if Chris takes too much time in subsequent performances, he may alienate viewers. The second problem is the of staging and airing a hypnotism routine. At the start of the audition, host Nick Cannon had to tell audience members to leave if they did not want to watch the routine, and the cameras had to cut to Nick whilst Chris was putting Howie into a trance for the first time. Chris will have to deal with both skeptics and viewers uncomfortable with his act, and this makes things even harder for him. Overall, Chris will find it difficult to win over viewers, but if he uses his skills carefully, he can generate another memorable performance.
- Piff the Magic Dragon
A comedic magician from Britain dressed as a dragon, Piff the Magic Dragon will be familiar to many viewers of Penn and Teller: Fool Us, having appeared on the show in 2011. In his AGT audition, he performed his most iconic trick. After getting judge Heidi Klum to sign a chosen card, he revealed a prediction he had made at the start of the routine, only to demonstrate that the two were different. However, he was able to change Heidi's card, quarter by quarter, to match the prediction, with her signature still remaining on the card throughout. Whilst the trick was creative and hard to figure out, it was Piff's personality that stood out, as he made a number of amusing jokes and did some wonderfully bizarre things, such as going up to the judges table to drink from their branded cups whilst they gave their verdict. Piff could easily be seen as a novelty act, but if his tricks remain impressive and his antics continue to be enjoyable, he might stand out for all the right reasons.
- Wayne Hoffman
Like Rogue from last year, Wayne Hoffman provided a unique and scary variation on Russian Roulette. He began his performance by revealing three firecrackers. Two of them were duds, but the third would explode when the fuse burnt out. Wearing a steel blindfold that covered his eyes, Wayne picked two of the firecrackers, which had been switched around by Howie, at random and an assistant placed them in his mouth and lit them. Fortunately, the two firecrackers that Wayne chose were the duds, and he was unharmed. Wayne had a strong sense of showmanship, and his cleverest idea was basing his choices on observations he made whilst watching Howie. I would like to see what else he can do, but he may have trouble delivering a more impressive performance.
- Stevie Starr "The Regurgitator"
Stevie Starr is another example of an act whose classification as a magician is highly debatable. However, regurgitation is a skill commonly used by escapologists, and Stevie uses a number of techniques that are similar to ones used by magicians, so I will classify him as a magic act. Stevie has appeared on numerous editions of the Got Talent franchise across Europe, such as Britian's Got Talent, the German version, Das Supertalent, and, more recently, the French version, Incroyable Talent. Anyone who has seen him in those saw him perform both of the tricks he did on Americas Got Talent, in which he swallowed coins and regurgitated them to order, swallowed and regurgitated a light-bulb, and finally ate powdered sugar and drank water simultaneously, before regurgitating the sugar, which was completely dry. Stevie's act is very unique and interesting, but it's also uncomfortable to watch, and a bit limited. Therefore, I am not sure if he will have the wide appeal a magician on AGT needs in order to go far in the viewer's vote.
- Xakary the Magician
Stage illusionists focusing on tricks with big boxes used to dominate Americas Got Talent, but have become increasingly rare. Last year, the only illusionists to pass the audition rounds, failed to make it out of Judgement Week, whilst three of the four unconventional magic acts put through instead made the Final 12. This year, Xakary the Magician was the only illusionist whose successful audition was televised. For his audition trick, Xakary did a version of Sawing A Lady in Half, with one notable twist. He did not use an assistant, and appeared to saw Heidi in half instead. The idea of using a volunteer was clever, because it removed the possibility of her being involved in the secret, and Heidi's panicked reactions were pretty amusing. However, Heidi's involvement in the performance was the most notable aspect of it. Whilst Xarkary had a couple of good lines, he is not as funny as Piff the Magic Dragon or Derek Hughes, and doesn't have the showmanship of Aiden Sinclair or Oz Pearlman. Therefore, he is unlikely to make it through the Judges Cuts, assuming that he even appears during that stage.
- Derek Hughes
Like Piff the Magic Dragon, Derek Hughes blended both magic and comedy for his audition. He began by catching a ping-pong ball on his nose, then did a trick in which he got the judges to choose a card. He then made the deck vanish and appear in his trousers, with the exception of the chosen card, which appeared folded up between his butt-cheeks. Both his tricks have been performed at the auditions before by less competent magicians who failed to make it through. However, Derek's versions were far better, and he delivered some great lines, such as likening Howard to the rock guitarist Slash and taking off his watch after saying "Look! Watch" several times during the climax of the trick so that the audience wouldn't think he was referring to the watch by mistake. With an entertaining personality and an appealing back-story (he's a father of two who got into magic as a child whilst dealing with heart surgery), Derek could be really popular with AGT viewers, but he needs to provide more original and spectacular tricks.
- Michael John
Many of America's Got Talent's most successful magicians, such as Collins Key, Mat Franco and Smoothini, are incredibly easy on the eye, and Michael John is another example of a magician aiming to demonstrate that he's more than just a pretty face. In his audition, he performed a couple of tricks with judge Mel B as a volunteer. First, he did a card trick in which he and Mel B signed a card each, folded them up, and held them between their teeth. Michael leaned towards Mel B for a second, and when he moved back, the cards had switched places- Mel B's card was now between Michael's teeth and vice versa. He followed this with a trick in which he got Mel B to think of the initials of her first kiss and punch him in the chest. the chosen initials appeared imprinted on Michael's flesh. Michael does not have the showmanship of his fellow magicians, but he did provide two strong tricks performed well. If his performance at the Judges Cuts is good, he may become a favourite.
- Aiden Sinclair
Americas Got Talent places a considerable amount of emphasis on contestant back-stories, and Aiden Sinclair has one of the most interesting of any contestant competing on this series. A former con-man who turned himself in and discovered magic whilst serving a five-year sentence, Aiden put the skills of his past life to a more positive use as he performed a version of the Invisible Deck trick. He turned over a random card in a deck which he gave to Howie, then got Howard to call a person of his choice and tell them to name a card. Howard called his mother, who named the Ten of Hearts. Aiden then re-opened the deck to reveal that the chosen card was the only face-down card in the deck. The Invisible Deck should be familiar to most magicians, and it's easy to figure out how the trick was done if you watch closely. However, I liked Aiden's showmanship, as he put a lot of effort into concealing the simplicity of the trick, and I would like to see if he can pull off a more elaborate performance.
- Oz Pearlman
Like Eric Dittelman from Series 7, Oz Pearlman is a mentalist rather than a magician. He began his audition by correctly predicting a number chosen by Heidi, then told Mel B to think of a place where she had been on vacation (Fiji), a person she had been with (Geri Halliwell, her band-mate in The Spice Girls), and a year (1998). He then produced an envelope with staples sealing it around all sides, then told the judges to open it. It contained a correct prediction of the chosen place, person and year. In contrast to Dittelman's geeky persona, Oz had a slick approach, using several small touches to make his act seem more effective, such as correctly stating the decade in which the chosen year occurred and the gender of the chosen person before revealing the full prediction. Dittelman reached the Semifinals when he competed on AGT. He should have got further, but mentalists find it harder to win over viewers than regular magic acts because they are focused on winning over skeptics by making their act seem genuine. If Oz increases his level of showmanship whilst continuing to provide baffling mentalism feats, he will be able to match or even surpass Dittelman.
- Xavier Mortimer
French magician Xavier Mortimer is not stranger to television, having reached the final of Incroyable Talent four years ago, and participated in the season première of the U.S version of Penn and Teller: Fool Us, which aired last week. His act blends magic, music and physical comedy, and all three aspects were apparent in his audition, where he made a large stack of money appear between two cymbals, followed by a cloth and an upright glass and bottle. It was a clever idea, because the shaking of the cymbals made it seem less likely that anything was hidden behind them. Xavier is a very creative magician, and if he continues to provide unique performances, he could easily become one of the most successful magic acts in the series.
What Will Happen in the Judges Cuts?
Unlike previous seasons, where the "Bootcamp" round between the auditions and the Live Shows lasted for only one week, the Judges Cuts will be spread out over four weeks, Each week, a group of roughly 20 acts will perform for not only the four regular judges, but an additional Guest Judge who changes every week. The Guest Judges will be:
- Week 1 - Actor, TV Host and magic enthusiast Neil Patrick Harris
- Week 2 - Jazz/Swing singer Michael Bublé
- Week 3 - Comedian, Actor and TV Host Marlon Wayans
- Week 4 - Former AGT judge Piers Morgan
Of the 20 acts competing every week, only seven will make it through to the Live Shows (although there are rumours that acts eliminated at the Judges Cuts may come back as Wild Cards). The seven acts that go through each week will include one put through on the spot by the Guest Judge, using the "Golden Buzzer" in front of them on the judge's table. If the regular judges dislike a performance, they can still use their Red X's to end it early, so there's no room for error.
I wish all the best of luck to all the magicians competing in the Judges' Cuts. If you want to see how they fared, keep visiting this blog!
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