The Next Great Magician - Episode 2

(If You Haven't Watched This Episode on ITVHub Yet, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

Last week, ITV1 aired the second episode of The Next Great Magician, in which some of the world's best magicians compete to win a TV Special worth over £500,000. In this episode, six magic acts competed to win a place in the Grand Final, which will be held on December 11th. With the creative French Illusionist Xavier Mortimer already through to the Grand Final, the acts featured in this episode had to provide a really impressive performance in order to join him.

The competitors in this episode were:

• Illusionist Marcel (& Magus Utopia)
• Mentalist Katherine Mills
• Comedic Illusionist Duo Barry & Stuart
• Comedic Magician Andi Gladwin
• Close-Up Magician Will Houstoun
• Close-Up Magician Hun Lee

The Performances

Marcel (& Magus Utopia) - In the intro to this episode, the announcer said that it contained performances "which some younger viewers may find scary". He was referring to Marcel, the first act of the night. Marcel is the lead member of a magic troupe called Magus Utopia, who provide a magic act themed around dreams and nightmares. For their performance, Magus Utopia performed a number of frightening illusions inspired by this subject matter.

Marcel began his performance by getting into a seemingly normal bed and putting the duvet over his body. However, when Marcel threw the duvet over his head for a couple of seconds, he was replaced by a female assistant in scary, gothic makeup. Marcel then reappeared inside a circular doorway, now wearing a different set of clothes. After being seemingly hypnotised into a trance by a group of assistants (who were also in scary makeup), Marcel was chained to a pole by the lead female assistant for a variation on the Assistant's Revenge illusion. The assistant covered herself and Marcel with a curtain for a few seconds, but Marcel then emerged, freed from his restraints. When the curtain was removed, it was revealed that the assistant was now chained to the pole. 

After this, Marcel's assistants locked him inside a cage and sealed it shut with black shrink wrap. The cage was lifted into the air and the assistants threw spears into it. However, a jet of flame soon caused the shrink wrap to burn away, revealing that Marcel had vanished from the cage. The bed used at the start of the performance was then returned to the centre of the stage, A duvet was held over the bed for a couple of seconds, and when it was put down, Marcel had re-appeared inside the bed, as if reawakening from his nightmare.

I am not a fan of horror, but Marcel & Magus Utopia provided some interesting illusions. Though the tricks they provided were variations on familiar illusions, they were carried out with plenty of style. There were also some interesting touches, such as some creepy voices and a brief glimpse of a bisected female assistant whose legs drove a cart with her upper body in the back. These made the performance seem scarier and more dangerous.  The best aspect of Marcel & Magus Utopia's routine was their strong and cohesive story. However, whilst a dreams and nightmares theme works really well in a five-minute performance, I am not sure it can be properly translated to a longer TV special.

As usual, when the performance finished, hosts Stephen Mulhern and Rochelle Humes asked Marcel what tricks he and Magus Utopia would perform if they made it through to the final. Marcel promised that he would provide a "very beautiful" trick centered around a floating bed, followed by a "very dangerous" illusion.

Katherine Mills - Katherine Mills has already had a special on the cable TV channel Watch, but this is the first time she has appeared on a primetime show on one of Britain's "big three" mainstream channels. However, with this performance, Katherine proved she deserved a much greater level of recognition.

Katherine's performance was pre-recorded at a fancy London restaurant. There, she met a man named Ben for what appeared to be a typical blind date. However, once they had started talking, Katherine began to reveal that she was no ordinary partner. She began her routine by asking Ben a series of random questions and telling him to reveal his answers. At almost the exact same time Ben revealed his answers, Katherine gave exactly the same answers, as if correctly predicting Ben's choices. Regardless of whether she was asking him for his favourite film (Terminator 2: Judgement Day), his favourite superpower (Invisibility) or his favourite holiday location (Barbados) Katherine was able to correctly match Ben's answers every time.  

After this, Katherine performed a trick which involved Ben's phone. She got a waiter to use the phone to take a photo of herself and Ben. Katherine then took Ben's phone, then revealed that a number of her personal photos (including ones showing her arriving at the restaurant, and one of her at a Halloween party) had appeared on it. Then, for the climax of the routine, Katherine spilled her glass of wine, and revealed that the spilt wine had formed a picture of a heart with the initials "K + B" (for Katherine and Ben) inside. In addition, a wedding ring had appeared from inside the overturned glass. As Katherine told Ben she would accept this apparent marriage proposal, a waiter lifted up the stained table cloth, covering Katherine's clothes for a few seconds. When it was removed, Katherine's red dress had transformed into a white wedding dress, and confetti was raining down from the ceiling to complete the routine.

Overall, this was one of my favourite routines of the night. Katherine has a strong personality, and a very distinctive approach. I liked the way she combined mentalism, close-up magic and illusions, and some of her tricks, such as the mentalism she provided at the beginning, are almost impossible to figure out. It's great to see a female magician provide such an impressive routine.

After her performance, Katherine promised that she would maintain her "hidden camera" style if she was put through to the Grand Final, as she would pretend to be a nanny and become "a real life Mary Poppins".

Barry & Stuart - Having previously appeared in both seasons of BBC1's magic show The Magicians, the Scottish magic duo Barry & Stuart returned to prime time television with a creative and funny, but disgusting, routine.

Barry & Stuart began their performance by showing viewers a jug containing "a really disgusting mixture" of over fifty drinks, ranging from pineapple juice to wheatgrass. It was poured into a bowl, and even more liquids, including orange juice, red wine, beer and an egg, were added to this concoction. All the drinks used by Barry & Stuart were shown on a screen behind them. Barry promised to put his head in this unusual brew, and drink from it. In order to make this more dangerous, Stuart claimed that Barry was lactose-intolerant, then added milk to the mixture.  Barry then promised that he would "separate the drinks out" in his stomach. The audience was asked to name a drink of their choice from the options on the screen behind them, with one audience member choosing beer. Barry drank the concoction, then appeared to regurgitate beer into a glass. Stuart gave this beer to the audience member, who verified that it was genuine.

Barry & Stuart then invited TV personality Amy Childs onto stage to assist them, before Barry drank more of the mixture. Barry & Stuart then promised to regurgitate a hot drink for Amy, and asked her to choose from the dozen or so hot drinks listed on the screen behind her. Amy chose an Americano, and Barry appeared to regurgitate the drink into a second glass for her, When the Americano had been produced, Amy verified that it was still warm. Barry then regurgitated some milk to go with the drink, and the routine finished with a moment of comedy when, instead of regurgitating sugar, Barry merely took a couple of sugar packets from his pocket and added those to the Americano.

Barry & Stuart's routine combined the magical regurgitations associated with America's Got Talent finalist Stevie Starr with the classic Hospitality routine, where the magician produces drinks on demand for the audience. Both of these tricks are very impressive on their own, and the decision to combine them was very clever. Barry & Stuart also managed to use the unusual and disgusting nature of their routine to provide plenty of amusing moments. Overall, it was a really fun performance.

When Barry & Stuart were asked what they would perform if they made it through to the Grand Final, Stuart promised to show off his own superpowers by seeming to appear "in many places, all at the same time". 

Andi Gladwin - For his performance, Andi Gladwin made use of a giant red balloon. He begun with the balloon over his head, then put his entire body inside the balloon. After this, Andi stuck his head outside the balloon, and provided some jokes for the audience, including a bit where he moved his body within the balloon in order to provide comedic "impersonations" of a space-hopper and a lava lamp.

Andi then provided viewers with  magic routine in which he only used his mouth. Rochelle was chosen to assist as a volunteer, and Andi got her to take hold of a deck of cards with a different profession written on each one. Rochelle was then asked to go into the audience and choose a random audience member to participate in the trick. This person was asked to choose a card, look at the profession on it, and keep their choice a secret. Andi then asked Rochelle to take a silver platter and place this near him, before claiming that he would produce an item related to the chosen profession from his mouth. Andi made a golf tee appear from his mouth, but it turned out that the chosen profession was actually "Scuba Diver". Andi then put his head back into the giant balloon for a couple of seconds. The balloon then burst, revealing that he was now dressed in a complete Scuba Diver's outfit, including goggles and an oxygen tank.

This was probably the best performance I have seen involving a giant balloon, as it was used to aid the magic and also provided some physical comedy. The idea that using it would prevent Andi from doing anything with his arms or legs made the routine more interesting, and the climactic costume change was pretty impressive. However, acts involving giant balloons are usually pretty childish, and this performance felt like it was aimed at a younger audience. There's nothing wrong with magic for kids, but Andi's routine was not as impressive or sophisticated as those provided by the other competitors.

Andi promised that he would continue to use giant balloons if he made it to the final, and his routine would involve putting Stephen inside one of them. 

Will Houstoun - In addition to being a magician, Will Houstoun is an expert in "Magical History" who notably worked on Hugo, Martin Scorsese's film about the pioneering French magician and filmmaker George Melies. For his performance, Houstoun used his historical knowledge to enhance an otherwise conventional close-up routine.

Will Houstoun's performance took place at Knebworth House, with Downton Abbey star Jim Carter helping out as a volunteer. The two went to the library, where Will told Jim about Matthias Buchinger, an 18th century magician who had been born without hands or feet. In spite of his disability, Matthias was able to perform a number of sleight-of-hand tricks extremely well. In order to pay tribute to Matthias, Will showed an example of close-up trick where he did not touch any of the objects used. He put four silver coins on a table some distance apart, and placed his hands above them. By doing this, Will made all the coins move to one spot. With some more hand movements, he made the coins return to their original positions, before making them appear in a single spot again.

After this, Will performed a card trick created by Nate Leipzig, a classic magician from the early 20th Century. He took out a deck of cards and divided it in half, giving one half to Jim. Will and Jim shuffled their cards thoroughly, then swapped their portions of the deck, shuffling each other's half some more. The two piles were mixed together in a seemingly random fashion, and Will showed that they did not seem to be in any coherent order. However, he then opened a second deck of cards to reveal that the cards in this deck were in exactly the same order as the cards in the deck which Will and Jim had shuffled - all 52 cards in the second deck were in exactly the same position as the shuffled cards.

Will's tricks may have been rather conventional, but I would love to see him headline an hour-long TV Special. I'm a keen history fan, and I really admire the manner in which Will used magicians from the past as inspiration in order to make his act seem unique and interesting. In addition, Will's performed his tricks very smoothly, making it a lot harder to figure out how he did them. The card trick was especially impressive. I look forward to seeing more performances from Will in the future.

Will Houstoun claimed that if he made it through to the Grand Final, he would perform a 200 year-old trick discovered in an incomplete manuscript housed in the Magic Circle's Archive Collection. 

Hun Lee - Korean sleight-of-hand magician Hun Lee was the last act to perform during the episode, and provided a fast-paced and energetic routine.

Hun Lee began his performance by making a silk handkerchief appear, then made it turn into a box of cards, with a full deck inside. Hun accidentally dropped the deck, then appeared to briefly "rewind" the performance, causing it to fly back into his hands. He then performed some tricks with card boxes, making multiple boxes appear in his hands. Hun also made a box of cards float in midair, and caused the deck inside to rise out of the box. He then made several "fans" of cards appear at his fingertips, before making a card turn into a card box,

After this, Hun performed more tricks with multiplying card boxes, which included making them change colour. At this point, he began to "rewind" his performance again, reversing all his previous moves until he was back in the position he had been in at the start of the routine. This phase of the routine was performed at a much faster speed, but Hun was still able to perform his manipulations flawlessly. In addition to making card boxes and card fans appear and vanish, he performed a number of new tricks, such as making a deck of cards float in midair as they flew between his hands. There was also a section where the rewinding briefly "skipped", causing a number of individual cards to appear at Hun's fingertips and vanish rapidly.

Overall, this routine was similar to the sleight-of-hand routine provided by Jordan Gomez in the previous episode, but much more impressive, due to the greater range of tricks, which were generally superior to Jordan's. In addition, the "rewind" gimmick was very creative, and highlighted Hun's speed and precision. However, whilst quick-fire sleight-of-hand acts are very interesting to watch for a short performance, they can become tiresome over longer periods of time. Therefore, I don't think that Hun Lee can sustain a full TV special.

Hun promised that if he was put through to the final, he would perform "musical storytelling card magic".

The Results

As was the case in the first episode, the six magic acts gave each of their competitors scores based on three criteria: entertainment value, star quality, and how interesting their Grand Final performance sounded. The act who received the highest score would make it through to the Grand Final. Once all six competitors had made their decision, the winner magically appeared on stage. The act who made it through to the Grand Final in this episode was:

Barry & Stuart

Barry & Stuart deserved their place in the Grand Final, as they are both funny and creative. Their Grand Final performance sounds very interesting, and they seem like potential winners.

My Verdict

Overall, this episode of The Next Great Magician was better than the first one. The magic provided wasn't quite as spectacular as it was last time, but the magicians all gave strong performances, with Katherine Mills, Barry & Stuart and Will Houstoun being my favourite acts of the night. Although I'm still a little worried that the scoring system isn't transparent enough, the hosts have improved - Stephen Mulhern and Rochelle Humes have good chemistry and managed to provide some amusing lines in this episode. I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the series. 

Next Time - The six magicians who will be performing in the next episode of The Next Great Magician are:

• Illusionist Josephine Lee
• Close-Up Magician Laura London
• Rubix Cube Magician Paul Vu
• Close-Up Magician/Mentalist Rob Zabrecky
• Comedic Magician Rune Klan 
• Close-Up Magician Seol Park

I can't wait to see what tricks these acts will perform for us...

The Next Great Magician - Episode 1

(If You Haven't Watched This Episode on ITVHub Yet, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

Last week, a new magic show, The Next Great Magician, debuted on ITV1, hosted by magician and TV presenter Stephen Mulhern and Rochelle Humes, formerly a member of girl group The Saturdays. In The Next Great Magician, 30 magicians from around the world compete to gain a TV Special worth over £500,000. Each of the first five episodes will feature six magicians, who will perform a trick of their choice. After they have all performed, the six competitors will decide amongst themselves which of them will make it through to the Grand Final, to be held on December 11th.

The competitors in the first episode were:

• Escapologist and Daredevil Jonathan Goodwin
• Comedic Illusionist Duo Young & Strange
• Close-Up Magician Eric Jones
• Escapologist and Illusionist Ines
• Close-Up Magician Jordan Gomez
• Illusionist Xavier Mortimer

The Performances 

Jonathan Goodwin - Over the years, Jonathan Goodwin has provided a variety of insane escapology stunts, including one where he escaped from sharks and one where he was almost hanged. However, for his performance on The Next Great Magician, he provided his signature routine.

Jonathan was placed in a straitjacket by a volunteer (The volunteer had been made to wear the straitjacket earlier, just to demonstrate how hard it is for a normal person to escape from one), before promising that he would provide "the most extreme version ever" of a straitjacket escape. Jonathan's legs were covered in flammable fuel, and he was dangled upside down in midair. Jonathan's assistant then set the lower half of his body on fire, and he had to escape from the straitjacket as quickly as possible in order to reach a nearby fire extinguisher. From the moment he was set on fire to the moment he reached the fire extinguisher, Jonathan took about 20 seconds to escape from the straitjacket, and managed to avoid suffering any serious injuries.

I have seen Jonathan Goodwin perform this stunt twice before, but it's always impressive to watch. Escaping a straitjacket whilst on fire adds a level of spectacle and danger which  makes the routine even more memorable. In addition, the fact that Jonathan was able to escape the straitjacket so quickly highlights the fact he's a very skilled escapologist.

After they performed, the competitors were asked what tricks they would provide if they made it through to the Grand Final. Jonathan promised to perform a variation on the Bullet Catch with a live crossbow. 

Young & Strange - Before Young & Strange performed, they provided a pre-performance video explaining how they came up with their latest routine. In the video, Young & Strange received a call from the producers of The Next Great Magician, telling them that they couldn't participate because "we have enough people on the show". Reasoning that the producer didn't say anything about using animals, Young & Strange searched for a performing dog, and eventually found one wearing a fez. After training it in a variety of basic magic tricks, they decided to call this dog Houndini.

For their  performance with Houndini, Young & Strange performed a variation on the Metamorphosis illusion. Young got into a box with Houndini, which was then shut. Next, Strange climbed on top of the box with a sheet. After a few seconds, he threw the sheet over his head, but when it fell,Strange seemed to switch places with Young and Houndini, who were now on top of the box.Young opened the box to reveal Strange inside it, and Houndini finished the routine by pressing a button on the floor which fired confetti into the air.

Young & Strange are very amusing magicians, and adding a dog to their act was a pretty interesting twist. However, the intro video was much better than the performance itself. The intro video featured a number of funny moments as Young & Strange searched for a dog to aid them, and managed to make their chosen pet perform basic mentalism and quick-changes. In contrast, the performance itself was probably the weakest of the episode. Young & Strange did not do enough to make a very old illusion seem fresh, and Houndini added little to the performance. Given that he is the most appealing aspect of Young & Strange's act, they should have given him a greater role, instead of making him seem like a mere prop.

After their performance, Young & Strange promised that if they got into the final, they would make Houndini fly through the streets of London. 

Eric Jones - American Close-Up magician Eric Jones was the next to perform, His coin routine involved TV Personality Rylan Clark and Suzanne Shaw, a former member of the band Hear-Say. Once Rylan and Suzanne had joined him on stage, Eric began his performance by making a marker pen appear in his bare hands. After Rylan checked this pen to demonstrate there was nothing unusual about it, Eric made four American Half-Dollar coins appear from inside the Pen's cap.

Eric spent the rest of his routine performing sleight-of-hand tricks with these coins. He put three coins into Rylan's hands. whilst taking one coin for himself. Eric and Rylan held their coins between their hands and shook them, and as they did this, one of Rylan's coins vanished and reappeared between Eric's hands (A change signalled when the sound of rattling silver could be heard in Eric's hands). Eric then told Suzanne to hold two coins by the edges, between her thumb and middle finger, Eric held two coins in the same way, and when both Suzanne and Eric dropped their coins into their outstretched palms, one of Suzanne's coins had vanished and appeared in Eric's free hand. Finally, Eric placed all four coins in Rylan's hand, and asked Rylan to give him one. Eric then made this coin vanish and appear with the other three coins in Rylan's hands.

It is difficult to compare Eric Jones to the other magicians in this episode due to his intimate close-up approach, which contrasts with the flashier performance offered by his competitors. However, Eric is an excellent magician, and his tricks were impossible to figure out. He proved that you don't need big boxes and upbeat music to provide an impressive magic routine.

After his performance, Eric promised that if he got through to the final, he would provide a version of the Bullet Catch involving playing cards.

Ines - The only female competing in this episode, Ines performed a very dangerous and impressive routine which took place outside Langleybury Estate in Hertfordshire. For her performance, Ines was sealed in a coffin and buried alive, and she had to escape before she ran out of oxygen. The coffin had a window, meaning that the audience could see Ines' face, and Ines had a radio with her so that she could communicate with Rochelle, and a flashlight to ensure that she wouldn't be in complete darkness as she made her escape.

As planned, Ines was sealed into the coffin, and it was lowered beneath the ground. Ines promised to start her escape as soon as the coffin was covered in earth, However, seconds after the window of the coffin was covered with earth, Ines appeared to panic and demanded to be let out. When this happened, the coffin was opened, showing that Ines had vanished. Seconds later, one of the assistants ripped off her costume to reveal that she was actually Ines in disguise.

Ines' performance was one of the best of the night. Though it was more of an illusion than a feat of escapology, it was still very impressive. Because Ines' face was visible inside the coffin until the very last moment, it is very hard to figure out how she was able to vanish. However, there was one problem with the performance. When Ines revealed herself at the climax, the bird's-eye view of the camera showed us a rather long glimpse of her cleavage, which felt a little inappropriate for a show aimed at families. In spite of this, I really enjoyed watching Ines' performance, and I hope that this series will be full of great female magicians like her.

After her performance, Ines promised that she would perform an underwater illusion if she made it through to the final.

Jordan Gomez - The first of two French magicians competing in this episode, Jordan Gomez began his routine at a record store. Jordan's first trick was turning an image of headphones on the side of his bag into a real pair of headphones, then he provided a number of sleight-of-hand tricks for his audience. He turned a Vinyl record cover into confetti, then turned a Vinyl record into a CD. After this, Jordan performed a number of sleight-of-hand tricks with CD's for the spectators at the record store, These included making a CD change colour, appear inside a CD case and teleport from one CD case to another.

After performing at the record store, Jordan continued his routine on stage, where he performed more tricks with CDs, set to Sonny J's anthem "Can't Stop Moving". These included making large numbers of CD's appear inside his hands, causing them to change colour, and making them vanish. For his grand finale, Jordan turned five CD's into a shower of confetti.

From a technical perspective, Jordan Gomez was one of the most skilled performers in the episode. His CD manipulations were carried out incredibly quickly and smoothly, making it hard to figure out how he did them. However, I personally feel that the quick-fire approach Jordan displayed in this performance cannot sustain a one-hour show, making it a lot harder to imagine him as a potential winner on this series. I also feel that the decision to set the first half of the routine in a different location was pointless. Whilst I appreciate that performing at a record store meant less space and an audience who were closer to the magic, I think that these extra difficulties did not add much to the routine, and the second half of the performance was much more impressive anyway.

After his performance, Jordan said that he would provide more sleight-of-hand tricks if he made it through. Compared to the performances promised by his competitors, this did not seem very interesting.

Xavier Mortimer - Less than 18 months after he received 4 X's on Americas Got Talent for dropping a glass ball, Xavier Mortimer showed just how stupid the AGT judges had been for dismissing him so quickly, as he provided a clever and funny performance with a musical theme.

Xavier's routine began with a comedic shadow effect, as his silhouette appeared to climb out of a lake and onto the stage using a rope attached to a hook. Xavier then appeared on stage, before getting out a pair of cymbals and making a variety of objects appear between them, including a butterfly, stacks of money, a large cloth, a bottle and a couple of wine glasses. He finished this part of the routine by making confetti appear from one of the cymbals, and making a small waist apron appear over his trousers.

After this part of the routine was over, Xavier went behind the screen, where he disposed of his props and appeared to dive underwater, before appearing to re-emerge from within a violin case. Xavier then made a clarinet appear, and walked in front of the screen. As he started playing the clarinet, three shadowy duplicates of him emerged from his shadow and appeared on the screen, playing a tuba, an accordion and a tambourine respectively. After a section where he appeared to dance with these figures whilst playing his clarinet, Xavier briefly made his instrument float in midair. After this, the shadows began to rotate, and Xavier seemed to rotate with them, turning upside down a couple of times before landing back on his feet. After a bit more dancing, the shadowy figures vanished in a shower of confetti, and white polka-dots magically appeared on Xavier's suit.

Xavier's performance was very enjoyable to watch. He made great use of a distinctive theme, which helped make his tricks seem incredibly unique. In addition, Xavier provided some amusing comedy and is a very talented musician and dancer - he certainly has the versatility needed to headline a TV special.  However, there were a few moments, especially when he was making items appear using the cymbals, where it was easy to figure out how Xavier was pulling off his tricks. When he was using the cymbals, the idea was that Xavier would prove that there was nothing inside them whenever he banged them both together. Unfortunately, there were a couple of very brief instances where he flashed the items he was about to produce. That said, these errors were very hard for a live audience to notice, and Xavier's showmanship and creativity made him stand out as one of the best magicians in the episode.

After his performance, Xavier promised that if he made it through, he would provide an "extremely visual" and "powerfully mystifying" routine where he would fly through the air.

The Results

After all of them had performed, the magicians had to choose which of them would make it through to the Grand Final. They would give each other scores based on three criteria: entertainment value, start quality, and how interesting their promised Grand Final performance sounded. The act who received the highest score from their five competitors would make it through to the Grand Final.

Eventually, the six acts chose which of them would make it through to the Grand Final, and the winner would magically appear on stage. The magician who made it through to the Grand Final was: 

Xavier Mortimer. 

Xavier deserves his place in the Grand Final, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does next.

My Verdict

Overall, the first episode of The Next Great Magician was very enjoyable. Though we've seen a number of high-profile magic shows on British TV in the last five years (The Magicians, Penn and Teller: Fool Us, Killer Magic), The Next Great Magician still manages to stand out, due to the lavish reward and the incredibly talented competitors - I would love to see most of these acts headlining a TV special. However, there are some problems. Whilst I appreciate the desire not to reveal magical secrets, I think that there should have been a more transparent way of scoring the magicians, maybe through a jury or an audience vote. In addition, the hosts are disappointing, Whilst Stephen Mulhern is the perfect choice to host a magic show on ITV, and Rochelle Humes is a charismatic assistant, the two got very little screentime, and most of the comments they provided were annoying rather than funny. In spite of these issues, The Next Great Magician delivers the one thing which audience members want to see - a lot of great magicians providing us with their best routines.  

Next Time - The six magicians who will be performing on the next episode of The Next Great Magician are:

• Comedic Magician Andi Gladwin
• Comedic Illusionist Duo Barry & Stuart
• Close-Up Magician Hun Lee
• Mentalist Katherine Mills
• Illusionist Marcel
• Close-Up Magician Will Houstoun

I can't wait to see these acts perform...

Americas Got Talent 11 - Grand Final: The Clairvoyants and Jon Dorenbos

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

(I'm sorry for the fact that I've posted this review so late. I've been busy with many things lately. In contrast to other posts published during the recent series of AGT, where the results of each magician were revealed immediately after an assessment of their performance, their results here will be revealed at the end of the article)

The Grand Final of Americas Got Talent aired a couple of months ago, with ten acts providing one more performance in order to earn enough votes from the public to win the series, and gain a $1 million dollar prize and the opportunity to headline a show in Las Vegas. The ten Grand Finalists included two magic acts: Mentalist duo The Clairvoyants and Close-up Magician/Mentalist Jon Dorenbos. Given the high quality of the competition, the two acts needed to provide an especially incredible performance if they wanted to follow in Mat Franco's footsteps and become the second magic act to win AGT.

How Did The Clairvoyants Do?

At the very start of The Clairvoyants' Grand Final performance, Thommy and Amelie promised that "we have saved the best for last". The duo managed to live up to this claim as they wowed viewers with a routine which used elements from all their previous performances on AGT.

The Clairvoyants began their routine by claiming that they had been planning it since their audition was filmed. They then asked Heidi to select a random audience member by throwing a large ball into the seats behind her.After this, The Clairvoyants returned to the object-based mentalism of their first two performances on AGT, as Amelie blindfolded herself and stood at the centre of the stage with her back to the audience, whilst Thommy headed into the audience to meet the man who had caught Heidi's ball. The chosen audience member (who was named Victor) was instructed to hand the items in his pocket to Thommy. When he did this, Amelie was able to correctly guess that the items Thommy was now holding were a wallet and a Driver's License. Next, Thommy asked Amelie to identify the date of  Victor's birthday. She correctly guessed that it occurred on May 12th.

After this, Thommy headed back to judges table, and Amelie removed her blindfold. In the second part of the routine, The Clairvoyants returned to using the judges as volunteers. Thommy asked Simon to take out his wallet and give it to Howie, before Mel B was instructed to come up with a jelly bean flavor which could be used to describe Howie (she chose to call him a "Wanna-Bean"). After this, Howie was told to join Thommy and Amelie on stage, The Clairvoyants then revealed a large water tank at the back of the stage, and showed that there were no monitors or hidden items in it. Whilst Amelie prepared to enter the water tank, Howie was asked to choose a random credit card from Simon's wallet. Amelie dived into the water tank with a marker pen, and Thommy asked Howie to look at the expiration date on the chosen credit card, then memorise the last four digits of the credit card number. As Howie did this, Amelie correctly guessed the date and number, writing them on the wall of the water tank. Amelie then climbed out of the water tank, and Howie returned to the judges table. However, there was still time for one more trick, as Amelie gave Thommy a pendant which she had hidden inside her clothing for the entire routine. Thommy went up to Mel B, placed the pendant in her hand, and opened it to reveal that her chosen jelly bean flavor was engraved on the inside,

Out of the two magicians who performed in the the Grand Final, The Clairvoyants gave the better performance by some margin, This is not intended as an insult to Jon Dorenbos, but The Clairvoyants' Grand Final routine was really impressive, Their mentalism is as impossible to figure out as ever, and the main addition, the water tank, highlighted their showmanship without detracting from their abilities as magicians. Out of all the correct predictions provided by The Clairvoyants in this routine, the most impressive was them guessing the date of the volunteer's birthday. However, the best aspect of this routine was the manner in which it drew on elements of The Clairvoyants' previous performances. Amelie correctly guessed the items inside a volunteers pocket, as she did at the auditions The decision to use Simon's wallet was based on their Judges Cuts routine, and Mel B being asked to name a jelly bean flavor to describe Howie was inspired by the fact Howie came up with a jelly bean flavor to describe Mel B in the Quarter Finals. Finally, the pendant which contained Mel B's chosen flavor engraved inside was the same one used in The Clairvoyants' Semi Final routine. The Clairvoyants' decision to combine all these elements into one big routine highlighted their creativity, whilst demonstrating how far they had progressed since their initial audition.

The judges were full of praise for The Clairvoyants. Howie called them the best act of their kind "I've ever seen in the history of this show". Mel B said that the duo were "mesmerising" and "amazing". Both Heidi and Simon said that they could see The Clairvoyants as headliners in Las Vegas.

How Did Jon Dorenbos Do?

Although a solid magician, Jon Dorenbos made it to the Grand Final based on his likeable personality, moving backstory and his existing fame playing American Football for the Philadelphia Eagles. For his Grand Final performance, Jon chose to provide a close-up routine with an important message. He began his performance by taking the two's out of a deck of cards, and giving one of them to each of the judges. The judges were instructed to sign their cards, with Howie, Mel B and Heidi being asked to write their name. Simon was asked to write the name of someone close to him on his card,a and he chose to use the name of his son, Eric. The judges' four cards were returned to Jon. After this, Jon went to a small glass table nearby and performed a card routine set to The Script's feelgood anthem "Hall of Fame". He put the judges' signed cards into the centre of the deck, and began making a speech about how he used magic to cope with the difficulties he faced in life and adopt a positive attitude in the face of adversity. Early in the speech, Jon showed a random card, and transformed it into Howie's signed card whilst saying the line "we will find ourselves". Jon then revealed Mel B and Heidi's cards in the same way, still using the line "we will find ourselves" to represent their reappearance. In order to find Simon's signed card, Jon did something a little different. He divided the deck into face-up and face-down cards, and mixed them together. He then snapped his fingers, and revealed that Simon's signed card was now the only face-up card in the deck. Jon finished his performance by going up to a mini chalkboard, which had been on stage for the entire routine, with its back to the audience. Instructing Simon to "tell Eric you love him", Jon turned the chalkboard around to reveal that Eric's name was written on it - he had correctly predicted that Simon would choose to think of his son before the routine had even started.

Out of Jon's performances during his time on AGT, his Grand Final performance was probably his weakest. This is understandable, given that the NFL season resumed just before the Grand Final, making it harder for Jon to prepare. However, it's a little disappointing that this was essentially a less complex version of his audition routine, which also saw him perform sleight-of-hand tricks with cards. That said, it's impressive to see a big, muscular American Football player like Jon perform card tricks which require a great deal of dexterity. I also liked the message, which was highly personal to Jon, but holds universal appeal. As Richard Jones demonstrated in the Grand Final of Britain's Got Talent earlier this year, a moving and inspiring message can make even the simplest magic tricks stand out. Therefore, although I feel that Jon should have provided a more spectacular performance for the Grand Final, I still enjoyed this routine.

The judges' comments were very positive. Howie said that Jon's routine was "inspirational". Mel B said that she initially "didn't quite understand what is going on" as she was too focused on Jon's speech, but came to realise that the magic was "brilliant". Heidi called Jon a "class act" and Simon said that he was a potential winner

The Results Show Performance

During the Results Show, the finalists got to enjoy one final performance before the results were revealed. As viewers were no longer voting for their favourites, this simply provided an opportunity for the acts to have some fun, with many of them getting to perform with a celebrity guest. As the two remaining magic acts in the competition, The Clairvoyants and Jon Dorenbos gave their Results Show performances simultaneously, sharing the same celebrity guest.

The Clairvoyants performed first, with Thommy showing the judges a small flip-book containing photos of 200 celebrities. He asked Heidi to choose one of them at random, and she chose former singer and American Idol judge Paula Abdul. The Clairvoyants then revealed that Paula would be their celebrity guest for the routine, and she joined The Clairvoyants on stage, carrying a small black box in her hands. The Clairvoyants then talked about playing the lottery, and provided a lottery-themed mentalism routine. They had to find six numbers between one and 50, and asked Paula to write down a number of her choice within this range. After this, Mel B, Howie, Heidi and Simon were instructed to choose numbers range related to embarrassing questions about themselves. Paula then chose the final number, which would represent the "Powerball". When all six numbers had been chosen, Thommy opened the black box to reveal a lottery ticket, which had been hidden inside it for the entire routine. The lottery ticket featured all six of the chosen numbers, printed in the order they were selected. After The Clairvoyants had finished their trick, they gave Paula a golden envelope, and introduced Jon Dorenbos.

Jon's Results Show routine began with him providing a small comedic effect where he made Paula's lottery ticket "vanish" by throwing it into the air. He then showed Paula a giant deck of cards and asked her to choose one. Paula was then instructed to tear this card into quarters, Before placing these quarters into a paper bag, Jon gave one of them to Paula because "it makes the trick better at the end". He then tore the bag open to reveal that the other three had vanished. After this, Paula was instructed to open the golden envelope which The Clairvoyants had given her. It contained the other three pieces of her chosen card, which had been fused back together.

The routines which The Clairvoyants and Jon Dorenbos provided for the Results Show were not very sophisticated, but they didn't need to be, as their performances were merely meant to entertain viewers waiting for the results. However, it was interesting to see The Clairvoyants provide a more comedic routine than usual. Jon's routine was also fun, as he tricked Paula into tearing her chosen card in half at the start, then made an amusing reference to her signature song, "Opposites Attract" ("It's as if we took two steps forward, and we just take two steps back"). Overall, the Results Show routines provided by The Clairvoyants and Jon succeeded in providing some much-needed light relief before the winner of this season of AGT was revealed.

The Results

After the Results Show performances, it was time to find out the results. Both Jon Dorenbos and The Clairvoyants were announced as in the Top 5, and found out their final placement in the viewers vote shortly afterwards. Jon Dorenbos was revealed to have finished in Third Place, and The Clairvoyants came in Second Place, with both magic acts finishing narrowly behind the eventual winner, 12 year-old Singer/Songwriter Grace VanderWaal. I am really pleased that The Clairvoyants and Jon Dorenbos did so well in the competition, and they both deserved to be so successful. I am looking forward to seeing what they will do in the future.

(P.S: The Clairvoyants and Jon Dorenbos will participate in the Americas Got Talent Holiday Spectacular, which will air on December 19th. A wide variety of iconic AGT contestants will be also be featured, including magicians Mat Franco, Piff the Magic Dragon, and The Professional Regurgitator, and Penn & Teller will be special guests. I can't wait to see all these great acts perform again.)