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.)

Americas Got Talent 11 Semifinals - Semifinal Two: Kadan Bart Rockett (& Brooklyn), Steven Brundage and The Clairvoyants

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

Last week saw the Second and last of the America's Got Talent Semifinals, with eleven acts competing for the last five places in the Grand Final. Among these competitors were three magic acts - 10 Year-Old Illusionist Kadan Bart Rockett, Rubix Cube Magician Steven Brundage and Mentalist Duo The Clairvoyants. Its an AGT tradition that the second Semifinal is much more impressive than the first, and that was certainly true this time, meaning that our magic acts had to put on the best possible performance in order to stand out from the crowd and advance to the Grand Final.

How Did Kadan Bart Rockett (& Brooklyn) Do?

When introducing Kadan Bart Rockett and his younger sister/assistant Brooklyn, AGT host Nick Cannon pointed out they were "the youngest contestants left in the competition." As they were up against some incredibly talented adult magicians, Kadan and Brooklyn had to work together to provide a performance spectacular enough to measure up to their more experienced rivals.

Fortunately, Kadan Bart and Brooklyn have never lacked ambition, and their Semifinal performance was their most lavish yet. With schoolchildren all over America going back to school, Kadan used his routine to introduce the audience to his fifth-grade class, which consisted of eleven other pupils. Kadan and Brooklyn showed everyone a photo of the class, and instructed Simon and Heidi to choose one of the pupils in the photo, with Simon deciding whether that pupil was from the top row or the bottom row, and Heidi choosing one of the pupils from this chosen row. Kadan Bart and Brooklyn marked the selected pupil, who was called Rebecca, by putting a Gold Sticker over her head in the photo. Kadan Bart and Brooklyn then held a sheet high in the air, and dropped it to reveal that they had made Rebecca appear, with a Gold Sticker on her head to match the one she had been given in the photo.

After this, Brooklyn pointed out that the rest of the class would be jealous if only Rebecca got to appear on stage, so Kadan set up a cardboard replica of a small school. He soon made all rest of Rebecca's classmates appear, with all eleven children walking out of the door of the small school one at a time to get onto the stage and be greeted by Kadan Bart and Brooklyn. One Kadan Bart had made all eleven of his classmates appear, the cardboard school opened up to reveal that Kadan Bart's teacher, Miss McGillicutty, was inside the box as well, sitting at her desk.

Overall, this was a fun performance. I liked the school theme, and enjoyed both of the tricks performed during the routine, even if they were pretty easy to figure out. Though Kadan Bart already made large numbers of people appear in his Judges Cuts performance, this routine was more elaborate, and therefore more impressive. However, the routine also highlighted many of Kadan Bart's major flaws. His dialogue with Brooklyn felt a bit cheesy and flat at points, but the biggest problem with the routine was the poor quality of the replica school. There were a number of instances when the walls of the school threatened to fall down before they were supposed to, forcing Brooklyn to rush over to hold them in place. Ultimately, in spite of these problems, the routine remained fun to watch. Kadan Bart and Brooklyn have always seemed a bit amateurish, but this gives their act a lot of charm, and the fact that they're able to provide large-scale illusions at such a young age is something to admire.

The judges had plenty of positive comments for Kadan Bart and Brooklyn. Howie praised the concept behind Kadan Bart's act, as it involved "magic that makes us feel like a kind, done by kids". Mel B said that it "wasn't the slickest of performances", but praised the way that Kadan Bart and Brooklyn persevered and provided an impressive trick in spite of their poor-quality props. Heidi said that the duo deserved an "A+" for their performance, and Simon praised their showmanship. It was inevitable that Kadan Bart Rockett and Brooklyn would to gain enough votes to make it through to the Grand Final. Given the high quality of their competitors, the duo seemed a bit amateurish and out of place. However, their Semifinal performance was good enough to send them out on a high, and I think that Kadan Bart and Brooklyn have the potential to be great magicians in the future.

How Did Steven Brundage Do?

Going into this Semifinal, Steven Brundage was probably the magician to beat. Unique, creative and benefitting from a giant online fanbase, he seemed like a guaranteed finalist. However, his Semifinal routine proved to be a disappointment.

For the Semifinals, Steven tried to do the two things he needed to do to impress the viewers by making his act bigger and demonstrating that it did not just revolve around changing the configurations of a Rubix Cube. In his pre-performance intro, Steven promised that he would provide "the biggest trick that's ever been attempted with Rubix Cubes". His routine involved over 204 Rubix Cubes stacked into a giant tower. After pointing out that there were more ways to arrange the various cubes in the tower than "atoms in the known universe", Brundage put more Rubix Cubes into the tower, but left gaps which would be filled by four cubes. After this set-up, Steven went to the Judges Table and performed some of his signature Close-Up tricks with a single Rubix Cube. He went to Simon and magically solved a mixed-up Rubix Cube in front of him. After this Steven placed a mixed-up Rubix Cube in one hand which he put behind his back. When the cube was thrown to Howie, it had magically solved itself.

After this, it was time for the main trick to start. Steven went to Nick, and showed him a Deck of Cards with the names of celebrities on their faces. Nick was instructed to choose a card and keep his selection a secret. The four judges were each given a Rubix Cube, and told to mix it up as they wished. Nick was told to stop the Judges one at a time in any order he wished, and when he had stopped a judge, Steven would take their Rubix Cube (with tongs, to prevent him using Sleight-of-Hand) and transfer it to a tray. Steven took Mel B's cube first, then Simon's, then Heidi's and finally Howie's. Once he was in possession of all four cubes, Steven went to the giant tower, where he pointed out the four holes, and told Nick to choose which hole each cube would be placed in. After the four Rubix Cubes had been placed in the four holes, completing the Rubix Cube tower, Nick was asked to name the celebrity whose name was on his chosen card. After Nick revealed that the celebrity he had chosen was Brad Pitt, Steven turned the tower around to reveal that the spots on the back of all the Cubes combined to form a portrait of Nick's chosen celebrity.

Overall, I thought that this was one of Steven's weakest performances on AGT. I liked the idea behind it, but I thought that this was one routine which needed to finish strongly, and the conclusion here was anticlimactic. The idea of having randomly combined Rubix Cubes form the face of a celebrity is an interesting one, but the Judges did not have much control over the tower of cubes. They were only able to mix up four cubes out of over 200, and for all we know, the four cubes did not have a substantial effect on the look of the portrait. This makes the climax seem a lot less impressive, as it appeared that Steven had too much control over the formation of the Rubix Cubes. I also disliked the fact we never got a good look at the finished portrait. Steven's portrait was only shown from a distance, meaning that we couldn't see whether Brad Pitt's key features, such as his unshaven face, were depicted convincingly, Even though Steven was only working with six colours, it should have been made a lot easier to recognise that he was depicting Brad Pitt. Therefore, Steven's Semifinal performance was not up to the high standard he needed, especially at such a critical stage of the competition.

The judges generally enjoyed Steven's performance. Heidi complimented Steven's "enthusiasm" and creativity. Simon said he "made the boring fascinating", and was "the most improved contestant we've seen on this show so far". Howie called Steven's act "amazing", but claimed that the portrait looked more like him than Brad Pitt (Although currently bald, Howie had a lot of hair in his youth), inadvertently highlighting the poor quality of Steven's Rubix Cube Portrait. In spite of the favourable comments he received, Steven's underwhelming performance cost him dearly. He failed to receive enough votes to advance automatically, and had to face the Judges Choice at the end of the results show. Both Mel B and Simon believed that Steven Brundage should be the last act to be put through to the Grand FInal, but Heidi and Howie voted for juggler Viktor Kee. As Viktor Kee received more votes from the public, he gained the last place in the Grand Final, eliminating Steven. It would have been really nice to see Steven Brundage make it through to the Grand Final, and I think he had the potential to recover from his disappointing Semifinal performance, but ultimately, I think that the ten finalists we have are very strong and generally deserved to make it through.

How Did The Clairvoyants Do?

The Clairvoyants have distinguished themselves from previous AGT mentalists such as Eric Dittelman and Oz Pearlman through their old-fashioned approach. Whereas their predecessors focused on being energetic and modern, The Clairvoyants aim to invoke memories of iconic mentalist couples such as The Zancigs and The Piddingtons. For their Semifinal performance, they chose to draw on this history with a routine aimed at recalling a time when Clairvoyants were valued for their ability to explore people's "most intimate thoughts". 

The Clairvoyants began their performance by asking Howie to think of a question he always wanted to ask Simon, before secretly writing it a sheet of paper. Mel B was instructed to write down the initials of a person who was special to her, and Heidi was asked to think of a place where she received a kiss. Like Howie, Mel B and Heidi secretly wrote their answers on a sheet of paper. When the three judges had finished, they folded their sheets of paper so that The Clairvoyants couldn't see them.

After this set-up, The Clairvoyants performed a smaller mentalism trick using Simon as a volunteer. Amelie brought Simon on stage and asked him to imagine he was walking down the streets of London having achieved a significant life goal. Simon was then asked to imagine that he was looking at Big Ben, and the hands on the clocktower were set to a time of his choice, Simon was then instructed to name his chosen time (7:04), and when he did this, Thommy showed him a paper bag, and revealed that it contained a small, old-fashioned clock which had been set at exactly 7:04 before the routine began.

When this trick had been performed, it was time to get the other three judges involved in the act again. Howie, Mel B and Heidi were asked to join The Clairvoyants on stage, taking their folded pieces of paper with them, and sit around a table with Simon. Thommy then took Howie's sheet of paper and opened it. Even though she was too far away to read it, Amelie correctly guessed Howie's chosen question - he had asked Simon for a raise. Next, Heidi was asked to give Thommy her sheet of paper, but he didn't read it. Instead, he held one of Heidi's hands, with Amelie holding the other, and Amelie correctly identified Heidi's chosen location as an Airplane. After this, Thommy took Mel B's sheet of paper, and used a candle to burn the folded edge. Thommy then put his hand over a nearby flame, and as he did so, Amelie correctly identified that Mel B's chosen person had the initials I.B and was her grandmother. However, The Clairvoyants weren't finished yet. Mel B was given a pendant which Amelie had worn around her neck throughout the routine, and told to hold it and reveal her grandmother's first name - Iris. When Mel B had done this, she was instructed to open the Pendant. It turned out to contain a folded sheet of paper with a correct prediction Iris' name written on it.

With this performance, The Clairvoyants firmly established that they are one of the best magic acts competing in this season of AGT. In their audition and Judges Cuts performance, The Clairvoyants focused almost entirely on object-based mentalism. This was very impressive, but it was hard to tell whether The Clairvoyants had the ability to maintain the novelty of their act across multiple performances or an hour-long show. In the Quarter Finals, The Clairvoyants proved that they were were creative and versatile enough to stand out, but their Semifinal performance was their best to date. Thommy and Amelie's mentalism is always hard to figure out, but when they're reading thoughts instead of identifying objects, it's even more impressive. In addition, their showmanship was excellent. The Clairvoyants really succeeded in replicating the look and feel of old-fashioned clairvoyants whilst allowing their act to see modern and engaging. Overall, they provided one of the best performances of the night, and marked themselves out as major Dark Horses. 

The judges had nothing but compliments for The Clairvoyants. Howie called the performance "my favourite moment of the night". Mel B was amazed that the duo correctly identified her Grandmother. Heidi said that "I don't think we need a clairvoyant" to figure out that they duo would get through, and Simon likened their act to "a ghost movie", praising the "delicious creepy show" they put on. Given the quality of their performance, and the praise they received from the judges, it was no surprise that The Clairvoyants received enough votes to advance automatically to the final. I am really looking forward to seeing them at the Grand Final, and I think that their next performance has the potential to be incredible. I'm not sure that The Clairvoyants can win, but I think they may be able to do better than Jon Dorenbos and thus become the most successful magicians in this season of AGT. 

Who Else Made It Through?

In addition to The Clairvoyants, the following four acts made it through to the Grand Final. They were:

• Pop/Rock Singer Brian Justin Crum
• Vocal Quartet Linkin' Bridge
• Teenage Contortionist/Acrobat Sofie Dossi
• Juggler Viktor Kee

I wish them all the best of luck in the Grand Final. 

Americas Got Talent 11 Semifinals - Semifinal One: Blake Vogt and Jon Dorenbos

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

Last week, the Americas Got Talent Semifinals began, with 11 acts competing for the first five places in the Grand Final. This means that it will be harder to get through, and the high standards at this stage will mean that some excellent acts will be eliminated.

Among the 11 acts competing in the first Semifinal were two magicians: Blake Vogt and Jon Dorenbos. Given that both of them specialise in Close-Up Magic and Mentalism, the competition between the two would be especially intense.

How Did Blake Vogt Do?

After theming his previous performance around birds, Blake Vogt made flight into a central part of his Semifinal routine. He began by showing the audience a balcony to the left of the stage, where his fiancee Nikki (who he introduced us to in his pre-performance video) was seated. After this, Blake talked about how he and Nikki would often engage in a "nerdy debate" about the two most common" superpowers, flight and invisibility, before promising that he would demonstrate both of these. Blake's first trick was a card trick. He asked Simon to choose a card, before tearing off a corner and giving the remainder of the chosen card (the Ten of Clubs) back to Simon. Blake then made his quarter of the card vanish from inside his bare hands, claiming that it had become invisible, before making this invisible piece "fly" through the air and "land" inside an empty box of cards lying on the Judges Table. Heidi was asked to open the box, and revealed a piece of a card inside. This piece turned out to be the missing piece of Simon's chosen card.

After this trick, Blake promised to do something much more spectacular, and demonstrate invisibility and flight himself. He revealed a Scissor Lift and climbed onto it. He then turned it on, lifting himself high into the air. After this, Blake claimed that he could only make his body invisible, and not his clothes. He covered himself with a sheet and took off various items of clothes whilst hiding beneath it. Blake then removed the sheet to reveal that he was now dressed in a head-to-toe "camouflage" bodysuit, which resembled the brick wall in the background (However, the camouflage was not too convincing). After this comedic demonstration of invisibility, Blake promised to demonstrate the power of flight. He covered himself with the sheet a second time, and after a few seconds, it fell away to reveal that Blake had vanished from the Scissor Lift. Almost immediately afterwards, Blake reappeared inside Nikki's balcony, still wearing his camouflage suit.

Overall, this was probably Blake's best performance to date. After so many Close-Up tricks and mentalism routines, it was interesting to see him tackle a Grand Illusion as well, and this was performed competently. I also liked the superhero theme, which made Blake seem a bit more unique. In addition, Blake's showmanship was far better than it had been in his previous two performances, possibly because the grander scale of the routine suited his energetic personality well. However, whilst this routine was fun, I don't think it changed my belief that Blake is the weakest of the five magicians who made the Semifinals. This is the stage where magicians have to provide their most unique and/or spectacular tricks, and whilst Blake's tricks were performed well, they were inferior those provided by fellow magicians such as The Clairvoyants or Steven Brundage.

The judges generally gave Blake positive comments, with the exception of Heidi. She claimed that "I don't think bigger necessarily is always better" and argued that the card trick at the beginning was more impressive than the main illusion. However, Simon said told Blake that "this performance may have just changed your life". Howie said that he agreed with Simon more, and felt that the climactic trick was "spectacular". Finally, Mel B said that Blake left her "bewildered". Ultimately, Blake's early performance slot and the incredibly high standard of competition meant that he did not receive enough votes to make it through to the Grand Final. However, he did pretty well in this series, and went out on a high note.

How Did Jon Dorenbos Do?

In addition to his skills as a magician, Jon Dorenbos has been defined by his status as a professional American Football player for teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles. For his Semifinal performance, Jon provided a routine which centered around his experience in the NFL.

In addition to incorporating American Football into his performance, Jon also used an American theme. He began by walking on stage to the James Brown anthem "Living in America", then introduced the judges and audience to three props. The first of these was a giant map of America at the back of the stage, the second was a Treasure Chest which his grandparents had given him as a child, and the third was a Journal which Jon had also used during his childhood (It was used in "intense therapy" to help Jon cope with the traumatic events which defined his childhood, which I won't mention on this blog). Jon told Howie to look after the journal, before turning his attention to the Giant Map.

Jon then took an American football ball of a bucket near the Judges Table, and demonstrated his skills as a "Long Snapper", throwing the ball at the Giant Map backwards, and between his legs. The four judges were then given an American Football ball each, and told to aim at the giant map, either throwing their ball, or "snapping" it as Jon had done. The footballs had magnets, which allowed them to stick to the giant board when they landed on it. This would be used to allow each judge to randomly select a state from the giant map, as they would be given the state nearest to the spot where their ball landed (each state was marked with a number between 1 and 50). The Judges lined up and tried to show their American football skills. Simon hit a spot on the map between Alaska and Hawaii, and chose to select Alaska as his chosen state. Heidi successfully pulled off a "Snap", hitting the area representing Wyoming. Mel B and Howie both threw their footballs, with Mel B hitting the area representing Texas and Howie hitting the area representing Oklahoma. The states randomly chosen by the judges were marked with magnets (showing the faces of the judges who chose them), and Jon took note of the numbers corresponding to each of the chosen states.

After this, Jon brought Howie on stage, and told him to remove a key attached to the back of the journal, which was used to open the treasure chest, which contained a number of coins. Howie was instructed to bring the coins to the Judges Table, where Jon revealed that the numbers corresponding to the four chosen states added up to 167. Jon claimed that the total value of the coins would be $1.67, thus correctly predicting the combined total of the states, but the coins turned out to be four Quarters, two Nickels, and a Penny, which added up to $1.11. Jon stated that Quarters had the names of states engraved on them, and it was revealed that three of the quarters had the names and symbols of three of the chosen states (Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas). The fourth Quarter didn't, but Jon had something even more impressive to reveal. He told Mel B to open his journal, and she found a small paper map folded up inside, This was opened to reveal a smaller copy of the giant map, with four stickers of the judges in the exact same place as the magnets on the giant map, providing four correct predictions of the states which the judges chose.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, if rather long routine. I liked the manner in which Jon's American Football skills were incorporated into his performance. The patriotic theme was also effective, probably inspired by Simon's claim in the previous round that Jon was "a real American hero". I also liked the greater level of spectacle, as Jon made full use of the stage for the first time after three Close-Up routines. As usual, Jon's showmanship was excellent, and his routine was hard to figure out. However, the main problem with the routine was the use of the judges. The judges are not the most reliable volunteers, as they can often struggle to follow complex instructions. Whilst they had no trouble throwing the footballs (apart from Simon, who initially missed the map completely and required a second throw to choose a state), Howie took a while to open the treasure chest. Worse still, Howie and Mel B proved hopeless at understanding American coins (which is what happens when you have an American talent show without a single American judge). When they had to count the coins from the chest, they had no idea what they were worth, initally accepting Jon's claims that they added up to $1.67 without examining them properly. When it was time to read the names of the states on the backs of the four quarters, Howie had trouble doing this, forcing Jon to reveal the state on the back of the last quarter (Hawaii) before Howie could have a proper look at it. I appreciate Jon's desire to have a more elaborate routine with a greater number of reveals, but the two fake errors (the value of the coins not totalling $1.67 and the fourth quarter not having "Wyoming" engraved on the back) had little impact, because Howie and Mel B's mistakes slowed the routine down. Overall, there were enough positives to prevent this routine from seeming too boring, but it was still Jon's weakest performance on AGT to date.

However, the Judges were full of compliments for Jon's performance. Howie called the routine "amazing". Mel B said that it made her "speechless". Heidi called Jon's performance his "best touchdown yet" and Simon was even more effusive in his praise, saying that the routine was "the most incredible thing I've ever seen on one of these shows". Jon has always seemed like an act who can get plenty of votes even if he provides a subpar performance, so it was no surprise that he gained enough votes to advance automatically to the Grand Final, which will be held next week. I look forward to seeing Jon's performance in the Grand Final, and I believe that he has the potential to do really well.


Who Else Made It Through?

In addition to Jon Dorenbos, the following four acts made it through to the Grand Final. They Were:

• Child Singer/Songwriter Grace VanderWaal
• Teenage Opera Singer Laura Bretan
• Jazz/Swing Singer Sal Valentinetti
• Mime/Physical Comedian Tape Face

I wish them all the best of luck in the Grand Final.

Americas Got Talent 11 Live Shows - Week 3: Kadan Bart Rockett and Blake Vogt

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

(I've been very busy lately, so for the rest of the series, I am going to be providing my  posts after the results show. This means that they will all follow the format of my posts for the Judges Cuts rounds, with only the magicians' performances being analysed, and the results being revealed at the end of the article.)

The Third Americas Got Talent heat aired last week, with Twelve acts competing for the last seven spots in the Semifinals, which start this week. Two of the Twelve acts in the lineup were magic acts - 10 year-old Illusionist Kadan Bart Rockett and Close-Up Magician/Mentalist Blake Vogt.

How Did Kadan Bart Rockett Do?

The best thing about Kadan Bart Rockett has always been his ambition. We've never seen a Child magician on AGT before, and it's really impressive that Kadan chooses to specialise in the sort of Grand Illusions traditionally associated with Vegas headliners. For his Live Shows performance, Kadan took his focus on adult illusions one step further by performing an escapology-themed routine.

Kadan's sister, Brooklyn Rockett (now officially credited as Kadan's assistant) began the performance by providing the judges with four pairs of "regulation police" handcuffs. After checking these, the judges were instructed to lock the handcuffs around Kadan's wrists. Brooklyn took the keys to the handcuffs and placed them inside a toolbox on a table set up next to the Judges table. This toolbox was full of items which would be needed in case of an emergency, including a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. After this set-up, it was time for "Kadan's Great Escape" to fully begin.

"Kadan's Great Escape" involved him being placed inside a large shadowbox, with his handcuffed wrists being suspended over his head. The box was lit so that you could see a silhouette of Kadan as he struggled with his restraints, and Brooklyn then revealed a column of chainsaws were pointed towards the box. Brooklyn turned the chainsaws on, and then pulled a rope, causing the column of chainsaws to advance towards Kadan, who seemed unable to escape from his restraints. The lights inside the box went off just seconds before the chainsaws went through it, and the sheet covering the box was then ripped away to reveal that Kadan had vanished from it. A couple of moments later, the toolbox next to the Judges opened and Kadan emerged from inside it. He finished the routine by grabbing the sandwich inside the toolbox and taking a bite from it.

Although only 10 years old, Kadan already has many of the strengths and weaknesses associated with illusionists. The main problem with illusionists is that they generally rely on similar kinds of illusions (there are only so many ways you can make someone vanish from a box), and it is generally easier to figure out how their tricks are done. This means that they are more reliant on showmanship, and have to ensure that their routines seem unique and entertaining. Like the best illusionists, Kadan is really good at making his performances stand out. He is generally a very confident performer (even when he briefly struggled to make himself heard at the very beginning) and the music ("My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" by Fall Out Boy) was used effectively, making the act seem more energetic. Even if the staging is a little bit amateurish (the "police handcuffs" used looked more like toy handcuffs) the "home-made" look and feel of Kadan's props emphasises how much effort he puts into setting up his illusions. I would also like to praise Brooklyn, who made her lines seem really funny as she showed the Judges the handcuffs and the toolbox. Overall, Kadan is not the best illusionist in this season of AGT, but he's probably the one I enjoy watching the most.

The judges all gave Kadan positive comments. Heidi praised the way he always provided "a surprise for us". Simon called him "A real-life Harry Potter". Howie praised the way Kadan managed to "step it up" and urged viewers to vote for him, whilst Mel B praised "the element of surprise" in his act. Given that Kadan performed early in a really competitive heat, it was a really pleasant surprise to find out that he had received enough votes to advance automatically to the Semifinals. I doubt that he will advance much further, given the high standards set by the other Semifinalists, but I look forward to seeing him once more.

How Did Blake Vogt Do?

As the only act in the Live Shows whose audition went untelevised, Blake Vogt was under considerable pressure to make a name for himself in the Live Shows. In his pre-performance intro, we found out a lot more about Blake. As a child, he found out he had 109 different allergies which left him housebound, and he turned to magic to cope with this. In addition to revealing this back-story, Blake promised that his Live Show performance would be a routine he had "created just for this show". This intro made me look forward to Blake's performance, but I personally found it a little disappointing.

Blake began his performance by getting a random audience member to choose his volunteer for him. After the volunteer was selected, Blake pointed to a box suspended in midair, and promised that, whilst other magicians would make doves appear, he would make any bird name appear. Blake then noted that there were over 9,000 species of birds, and asked the volunteer to name a bird of her choice. She chose a "Blue Jay", and Blake made an egg drop from the box, claiming that it was a Blue Jay egg, and he couldn't provide anything else due to his allergy to birds. Blake then went to the Judges Table, and gave the egg to Simon. He then gave a deck of cards to Howie, and asked him not to touch the deck until the end of the performance. Howie was then told to think of a deck, and choose to remove either the number cards or picture cards. After Howie removed the number cards, Blake asked Mel B to choose the face on the card - she decided it would be a Queen card. Finally, Heidi was asked to choose the suit of the card, and chose to select the Queen of Diamonds. After the Queen of Diamonds had been selected, Howie was asked to open the box of cards, but found out that it was empty, Blake explained that the judges would have expected something to appear in the box, but there was one place where "nobody expects the Queen of Diamonds to be"- the egg. Simon cracked the egg open to reveal that instead of a yolk, there was a folded-up card inside, and Blake opened this card up to reveal that it was the Queen of Diamonds - the Judges' Chosen card. However, Blake was not finished yet. He went back to the box on stage, still suspended in midair, and pulled a rope, causing the box to open up and reveal the bird name chosen at the start of the routine, "Blue Jay", written inside.

I believe that out of all the seven magicians who made it through to the Live Shows this year, Blake is probably one of the weakest. I liked the bird theme, and I find it really interesting that Blake made his allergies into a prominent part of the routine, but I still think he lacks showmanship. His nasal voice means that he sounds pretty annoying when he shouts, although I think that this routine was more suited to his energetic style than the more intimate one he provided at Judges Cuts. However, my biggest problem with Blake's Live Show performance was its generic nature. His tricks were hard to figure out, but his style of magic is no longer special. In the last few years, numerous magicians have performed Card tricks and Mentalism on AGT, so magic acts in these genres have to be truly unique in order to stand out, and I don't think that Blake's routines have been unique enough to impress me.

Nonetheless, this is just my opinion, and the judges were full of praise for Blake. Mel B said that she was "confused" by the routine, but in a good way. Heidi said that she had no idea how the trick was done. Simon admitted that he had previously considered Blake boring, but said that this routine had won him over, as Blake actually had "a great personality". Howie finished by praising Blake's backstory. As this was a very competitive heat, I didn't expect Blake to get through, but he earned enough votes to advance automatically. I wish Blake good luck and hope that he will win me over with his next performance.

Who Else Made It Through?

In addition to Kadan Bart Rockett and Blake Vogt, the following five acts made it through to the Semifinals. They were:

• Pop/Rock Singer Brian Justin Crum
• Family Country Trio Edgar
• Child Singer-Songwriter Grace VanderWaal
• Vocal Quartet Linkin' Bridge
• Drumming/Tap-Dancing Group Malevo

I wish them the best of luck in the Semifinals.

America's Got Talent 11 Live Shows - Week 2: The Clairvoyants, Steven Brundage and Sos & Victoria

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

With Americas Got Talent having recently returned from hiatus due to the 2016 Rio Olympics, now is a good time to look back at the Second Live Show, which was the last to air before the Olympics started earlier this month. My apologies for not providing a post on this episode sooner. As with my overview of the Judges Cuts First Live Show, I will reveal the results in this post.

The Second Live Show featured twelve more acts competing for a place in the Semifinals. This lineup included THREE magic acts - Mentalist Duo The Clairvoyants (Thommy & Amelie), Rubix Cube Magician Steven Brundage and Quick-Change Duo Sos & Victoria Petrosyan.

How Did The Clairvoyants Do?

The Clairvoyants impressed viewers in the Second Live Show with a performance themed around Jellybeans. These may seem like a strange item to centre a magic routine around, but then so is a Rubix Cube, and the use of mundane items in magic tricks can make an act seem even more unique and impressive. In this performance, The Clairvoyants managed to take their act in new directions whilst keeping everything which makes them stand out.

The Clairvoyants Live Show performance began with Amelie, who was standing in the middle of the stage, showing the audience a glimpse of a blackboard hidden beneath a red curtain, before it was hoisted into midair. Meanwhile, Thommy, who was standing in front of the Judges Table, showed the Judges a bowl of Jellybeans and talked about how he and Amelie regarded these as their favourite sweets "because they come in all flavours and colours". Thommy then instructed Simon to choose a Jellybean and give it to him. When Thommy ate the Jellybean, Amelie, who couldn't see which Jellybean he chose correctly guessed that Thommy ate a Purple Berry Jellybean. Thommy then asked Heidi to choose a Jellybean and eat it. Amelie correctly guessed that she had eaten a Pink Bubblegun Jellybean.

After this, Amelie and Thommy gave Mel B something different to do. She would take an ice-cream scoop, and use it to transfer some of the Jellybeans from the bowl into a glass. Meanwhile, Howie was asked to name his dream flavour of Jellybean, and he stated he would like a Spicy Chocolate Flavour. When Mel B had finished putting Jellybeans into the glass, she was asked to cover the glass with both her hands. Even though no-one knew exactly how many Jellybeans Mel B had transferred to the glass, Amelie guessed that there were 22 Jellybeans inside the glass. When all the Jellybeans in the glass were tipped in to a tray and counted, it was revealed that there had been exactly 22 Jellybeans inside. However, The Clairvoyants had not finished yet, as they revealed that they had not merely been reading the judges minds, they had been controlling their thoughts as well. They took down the blackboard, hidden behind the curtain for the entirety of the routine, and removed the curtain to reveal that they had correctly predicted all the decisions made by the judges during the routine before it had even started.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable routine. I liked the theme, and Thommy and Amelie have a strong stage presence. Their signature object-based brand of mentalism remains impressive, and the decision to incorporate more conventional mentalism, involving the correct prediction in full view throughout the routine, did not harm the act as it was performed very well. When Amelie showed a glimpse of the blackboard at the beginning of the routine, the part she showed remained unchanged even when the blackboard was fully revealed. This made the routine harder to figure out, and thus more impressive.

The Judges were full of praise for The Clairvoyants. Simon claimed that they were "aliens from another planet" and stated that their act was "more than magic". Howie called the act "amazing" and wondered if The Clairvoyants were able to influence the minds of viewers to get people to vote for them. Mel B said that the duo were "mesmerising" and she could watch them "time and time again". Given the quality of their performance, and the positive feedback they received from the judges, it was no surprise that The Clairvoyants received enough votes to make it through to the Semifinals. I have a feeling that they will provide another excellent performance in the Semifianls, but I'm not sure whether they will make it to the final.

How Did Steven Brundage Do?

Steven Brundage was one of two acts competing in this episode who had previously been eliminated, but was now being reinstated as a Wildcard (The other Wildcard was Dance Troupe FLIP, who made little impact and were eliminated). Steven's Pre-performance intro placed significant emphasis on the role of "People Power" in his return to the competition, and this highlighted the fact that he was under significant pressure to make his online fanbase proud and assert his status as a potential favourite to win the series.

Whilst Steven's performance at Judges Cuts emphasised his versatility by showing that he could use his signature Rubix Cube as part of a Card Trick, he chose to focus on providing increased levels of spectacle for his Live Shows performance. Steven's performance began with him showing Simon a giant Rubix Cube and asking him to hold it throughout the routine. He then gave Heidi a dice, which had the six colours of a Rubix Cube on its side instead of numbers, Heidi was asked to roll it, choose a colour and keep her choice secret. Mel B was asked to look at the dice as well, and name a different colour from the one chosen by Heidi. Mel B chose the colour Red, so Steven asked her to imagine the "Red Stickers" disappearing off a Rubix Cube. He then took out a Rubix Cube out of a paper bag, and showed that all nine of the Red Pieces were on the bottom of the cube, with none of them on the top or sides. Steven followed this by asking Heidi to think of her chosen colour (which was Blue). He then took a second Rubix Cube out of the Paper bag, and revealed that there were no pieces with the chosen colour on the top or sides, because all nine of the blue pieces were on the bottom.

After this, Steven went to Howie, who hadn't been used as a volunteer in the previous two performances. He showed Howie two Rubix Cubes, and asked him to choose one. Steven kept the other cube, and as Howie mixed his chosen cube, Steven mixed the other cube behind his back until Howie stopped. When Howie stopped, Steven took Howie's Cube, and revealed that both his cube and Howie's cube had been arranged into exactly identical configurations. If that wasn't enough, Steven took the Giant Rubix Cube which Simon had been holding the entire routine, and revealed that the arrangement on this cube exactly matched the other two.

Overall, Steven's Live Shows performance demonstrated both the strengths and flaws of his act. The tricks he performed were unique and very hard to figure out, He demonstrated an increased sense of showmanship, and he certainly deserves his place in the Live Shows. However, I'm not sure whether Steven's act can sustain the hour-long show which the winner of Americas Got Talent is expected to headline. His tricks have generally centred around changing the configuration of Rubix Cubes, or making them perfectly match a randomly-mixed cube. In order to respond to this issue, Steven needs to either do something unusual with his Rubix Cubes, as he did in the Judges Cuts, or make his act even more spectacular. However, I still enjoy watching him perform.

The judges all loved Steven's performance. Heidi called the act "fantastic". Simon took credit for reinstating Steven into the competition. Howie said Steven "blew me away", and Mel B called the act "astonishing". Due to the combination of his online fanbase, the quality of his performance, and the praise he received from the judges, it was no surprise that Steven received enough votes to automatically advance into the Semifinals. At the very least, he looks like a real Dark Horse in this competition

How Did Sos & Victoria Do?

Sos & Victoria Petrosyan were the last act of the evening to perform. This meant that they needed to provide a memorable climax to an episode full of high-quality acts. Unfortunately, their Live Show performance turned out to be a disappointment.

Sos & Victoria's Live Show performance began with Sos appearing from within a giant Grandfather Clock whilst wearing flaming gloves. He then made Victoria appear inside a mirror, before the duo began performing their signature Quick Changes. During the routine, Sos & Victoria performed a total of 13 Quick-Changes, with Victoria carrying out 12 of them. She performed Quick-Changes in front of a mirror, behind a wall of sparks and beneath a shower of Confetti. However, the highlight of the routine was when Victoria changed her costume five times in quick succession inside a small, curtain-covered booth.

Quick-Change routines are generally fun to watch, but Sos & Victoria's routine was ruined by poor presentation. I liked their use of uptempo pop music in their previous two performances, but I disliked the song choice for this routine - Meghan Trainor's bubblegum pop hit "Me Too". It was a little too annoying for my tastes, and distracted from the performance instead of enhancing it. In addition, the old-fashioned staging, with the giant mirror and Grandfather Clock on stage and the image of a clock in the background, clashed too much with the bright, modern theme suggested by the music and some of the costumes. This seemingly minor issue is actually pretty serious, as it demonstrates that Sos & Victoria did not put sufficient thought into their making their routine more memorable and impressive. However, the greatest problem with Sos & Victoria's routine was that they made a number of errors. During a couple of Quick-Changes late in the performance, it was possible to see how Victoria carried them out. Another particularly problematic moment occurred when Victoria tore off one of her dresses to reveal a smaller one underneath. I'm not sure whether it was deliberate or accidental, but it made it easier to figure out how the other Quick-Changes were performed, making the whole routine seem less impressive. Overall, Sos & Victoria's Live Show routine was the weakest performance by a magician in this season's Live Shows to date.

The Judges Comments towards Sos & Victoria were generally negative. Simon said that their act was "clever", but believed that Sos was "annoying" and added that "I should have liked it, but for some reason, I didn't". Heidi was the most complimentary towards the duo, praising the speed of the act, and the number of Quick-Changes Sos & Victoria performed. Mel B noted the mistakes in the performance, and claimed that Victoria wasn't smiling enough. Howie praised the manner in which the act blended magic and fashion, but felt that the clothing upstaged the performance. Ultimately, Sos & Victoria were voted out of the competition, ensuring that they became the first magic act since Season 8 to be eliminated in the first round of the Live Shows without qualifying for the Judges Choice. The fact Sos & Victoria gained so few votes, in spite of the fact they should have stood out as the last act to perform during the heat, demonstrates how much of a failure their Live Show performance was.

Who Else Made It Through?

In addition to The Clairvoyants and Steven Brundage, the following five acts made it through to the Semifinals. They were:

• Teenage Pop Singer Calysta Bevier
• Child Country Singer Kadie Lynn Roberson
• Jazz/Swing Singer Sal Valentinetti
• Teenage Contortionist/Acrobat Sofie Dossi
• Juggler Viktor Kee

I wish them all the best of luck in the Semifinals.